


We'll Face Ourselves

by JessicaX



Series: We'll Face Ourselves-verse [1]
Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Dom/sub, F/F, Light Dom/sub, POV Lesbian Character, Public Claiming, Semi-Public Sex, The Midnight Channel (Persona 4), Useless Lesbians, Yuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:33:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24099658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaX/pseuds/JessicaX
Summary: The Midnight Channel often reveals more about its victims than they wish it would. Chie and Yukiko are forced by their Shadows to confront feelings they have buried down deep, in a way so direct that their relationship definitely will never be the same.
Relationships: Amagi Yukiko/Satonaka Chie, Shadow Amagi Yukiko/Shadow Satonaka Chie
Series: We'll Face Ourselves-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090043
Comments: 49
Kudos: 108
Collections: Lesbian Adult Content, Persona 4 All Fanworks Collection, Persona 4 fanfic collection but its gay ships. (With the exception of Kanji and Naoto and a few unmentioned.), ☆ Homoerotica / Lesbianism / Yuri ☆





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NOTICE: Characters and locations ©Atlus. This fic and story ©2019-2020 me! All rights to their respective owners. Mature rating for sensual situations and dialogue. Canon (slight) divergence. Based on vanilla P4 since that's what I played (Sorry, Marie fans). Names are in Western order. Title adapted from the boss battle music. Cover art by [7aho](https://www.deviantart.com/7aho/art/Persona-4-Chie-shadow-825047219). [NOTE: Marked "underage" because the characters are late teens, just to be on the safe side]
> 
> NOTES: This one isn't going to be quite as in-depth or long as my P5 fic (and also a lot lighter in the plot department haha). Apologies for all the exposition within the first couple of pages. I always attempt to make the fic accessible for readers who don't know anything about the fandom if I can, but try to keep it short.
> 
> And for those of you waiting... don't get mad at me for not putting out very much Elsanna lately. I promise you, it IS coming. LOTS of it. I just have to have proper motivation or it will turn out not so great. Thank you for your patience!

None of this was right.

The spooky old castle seemed to press in on Chie Satonaka from all sides as she tore down hallway after hallway, the sound of her loafers echoing off the flagstones. Nevermind how bizarre it was that she was _in another world_ — which she was never going to get used to, even if she came and went a thousand times — but her childhood companion and best friend in the whole world being in danger was more important. She didn't have the luxury of being thunderstruck.

Chie and her friends had gone back and forth so often about the Midnight Channel. Was it real? Was it a scam, a mere urban legend? Mass hallucination? Nobody outside of the sleepy little town of Inaba had ever heard of it, or seen it happen; purely a local paranormal phenomenon. As the story went, if you watched your television with its power turned off at midnight, during a rainstorm, you could see _something._ Some versions even claimed the person you saw on the screen was your soulmate.

However, that was where fantasy ended and grisly reality took over. The two previous instances had shown women that later turned up dead — and not just on TV. Their corpses hung upside down from power lines and rooftops. In this most recent case, they had all seen Yukiko Amagi in the TV — first as a blurry shadow, and now in vivid high definition.

If it really _was_ Yukiko. That woman in the screen looked and sounded _nothing_ like her best friend, even if it was her face and voice. The garish pink princess dress was so unlike her! Not to mention the obscene thirst for boys from such a timid, polite girl… Chie could remember each word with crystal clarity:

_"Goooood evening! Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise! I'm gonna go score myself a hot stud! Welcome to 'Not A Dream, Not A Hoax; Princess Yukiko's Hunt For Her Prince Charming!' And I came prepared — I've got my lacy unmentionables on, stacked from top to bottom! I'm out to catch a whole harem, and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well, here I gooooo!"_

Every deranged syllable had come from someone else's mind. It had to be a sick joke! Still, there was no other explanation for where her best friend had gone. Unreachable by phone or email, and her parents didn't know where she was, either.

The other world was their only lead. And since Yu had previously shown her and Yosuke that they could actually _go inside_ , as long as the screen was large enough to step through… that was that. Insane as it was, they had all jumped through a big screen TV into a parallel dimension to rescue their friend.

But staircase after staircase flashed past, rich red curtains and glittering chandeliers, with no sign of Yukiko. The shadows pulled at Chie from all sides exactly as the boys had described. Maybe it was her bright green-and-yellow windbreaker that caught their attention, or maybe it was that someone was invading their realm. She didn't _belong_ in Yukiko's palace. Or at the very least, the shadows of the Midnight Channel thought she didn't, and probably were equally distrustful of the boys.

Speaking of which, where _were_ they? She could have sworn both Yu and Yosuke were right behind her… and that weird red-and-blue bear thing, whatever his name was. They had tried to insist she stay behind because she was a girl, not strong enough to fight in spite of her kung fu training, and now _they_ were the ones who couldn't keep up?! She almost wanted to turn back and give them a good kick in the-

"Chie told me that red looks good on me…"

The words nearly made Chie trip over her own feet and go down hard. "Yukiko?!" Where was it coming from? She turned this way and that, trying to find the source, but saw no one. The voice kept going, talking about how much she didn't like her name. How she thought she was worthless. She tried to tune out the harsh words themselves, merely focusing on the direction they were coming from and attempting to follow.

But as she barrelled through an ornate set of double doors, looking for the next flight up… the subject matter changed. And she couldn't ignore the words anymore.

"Chie was the only one who gave my life meaning. She's bright and strong, and she can do anything! She has everything that I don't. Compared to Chie, I'm… I'm…"

"HEY!" she shouted. "I'm coming, Yukiko! Hang on!"

However, the disembodied voice only continued, without any obvious source now. How could it come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time?! "Chie protects me; she looks after my worthless life. And I… I don't deserve _any_ of it… Chie is so _kind._ "

The words burned almost as badly as the tears burned her eyes. This was wrong. Something about it sounded right, sounded _satisfying_ to her, but she didn't want to examine it too deeply. All she wanted was to save her best friend and get her out of this nightmare palace.

"I know, right?"

That was _not_ Yukiko.

"What the-" Her eyes swivelled to the side and saw a girl running backwards. She was about her minimal height, a little over five feet… had the same chestnut-brown bowl cut. The same green jacket. The same…

 _The same._ "Oh no."

"Oh yes," the doppelganger laughed as she easily jogged backwards and kept pace with her, no worry for running into anything. She never did. It was as if this other Chie, this fake, had eyes in the back of her head or rearview mirrors that only she could see. "I bet you knew you'd be seeing me sooner or later."

"What _are_ you?!" Chie demanded of the impostor.

"Don't ask stupid questions," she laughed, voice distorted. "Let's cut the bullshit. And I mean Yukiko's bullshit."

"What… do you… what are you saying?"

Waving a hand up toward the roof, she went on, "Yukiko thinks you're 'so kind'. That you protect her, right? We know that's not what you want from her at all." When she didn't respond, the clone smirked. "You're thrilled to death she depends on you. The most beautiful girl in school, and she needs _you —_ some grubby little bitch who couldn't tell eyeshadow from lipstick. Man, do you get a charge out of that!"

"I… I do not!" she shouted, trying to put her head down and run faster _—_ to ignore this pretender. She had been warned that there were frightening shadows all around them, and this was further proof; it was a trick. One she refused to fall for.

"Where ya goin'?" the clone pouted as she sped up to match pace. "Gotta go save your princess? Of _course_ you do. She can't do anything while you're not around. Helpless like a lost puppy, right?"

Teeth gnashing, she snarled out, "Yukiko is not a puppy!"

"But you wish she was. If she was a helpless dog, yipping around your heels… then you would be set, wouldn't you? What else would you need with a devoted, needy little _bitch_ to boss around?"

"I… excuse me?! What did you call her?" Chie finally stopped, turning to snarl at the girl who stopped as easily as if they had planned this weeks ago. "She's not a bitch! A-and she's not helpless! So you can shut up and go back to wherever you came from, because I have a friend to save!"

And then she left her in the dust.

Determination radiated off her entire body as she leapt over one of the shadows, landed on the face of another and demolished it. They seemed to sap her endurance a little at a time, but she also felt stronger somehow with each one she defeated. Just like training in her secret hideout when she was little; she might be getting tired now, but she would be able to handle more next time.

"You're right."

Her jaw tightened. "Thought I told you to leave me alone."

"You said to go back to where I came from," Other-Chie corrected with a Cheshire cat grin. "And I did! Right here with you!"

"Yukiko needs me! So unless you're going to help me save her-"

"Are you kidding? Like I said, you're right; she's not really that weak. Yukiko doesn't need you. It's the other way around, isn't it?" That shut her up, so the shadow went on, "You don't know the first thing about being a girl. So terrible at it. And she's kind, and sweet, and trusting. What are you?"

"I… I'm her friend."

"No, you're really not," she laughed loudly, harshly. The beginnings of fresh tears stung the back of her throat as she took the next steps two at a time, wishing desperately that she could ditch this unkind spectre. "Because that girl cares about you, and all you care about is that _she_ does. You don't actually like her at all; you find her too quiet, too meek. Too pretty."

"That's not-"

"But she does depend on you. And hey, why should you ditch her when she's so devoted to you? Keep her on the end of your leash like the bitch she is."

"STOP!" Chie begged — and went down hard when her shoe tripped over the top stair, rolling a couple of times onto her side. Her knee had borne the brunt of the fall and now it throbbed in pain, and she automatically tried to massage it. "Just… just leave me alone, I… I do like her, she _is_ my friend! My BEST friend!"

"Awwwwww, is she though?" More false pouting as she crouched over the real Chie. "Can she really be your friend if you want to keep her under your thumb? Totally codependent?"

Growling, she began to crawl forward, wishing she had a good pair of earplugs.

"Can't escape the truuuuth," she sing-songed.

"Go away."

"Just let yourself enjoy it. Give in. In fact… Yukiko is right on the other side of that door."

That made Chie sit up a little straighter. Was she really? Somehow, she knew it was true; she could sense a presence on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling double-doors now that they were so close.

"Yukiko?"

"That's right. So go in there and grind her under the heel of your boot. Show her that you're-"

Completely ignoring the rest of her shadow's words, Chie burst from the ground with renewed adrenaline and kicked open the doors.

"Yukiko!" But the princess didn't move. "Yukiko, what's wrong?!"

As she laughed, madly and maniacally, Yukiko did finally turn around. And she was just as otherworldly and demented as the Chie-clone that had been hounding her heels. Mostly, they looked the same, outfit notwithstanding; it was the eyes… they were almost _golden_ , they blazed with such a yellow intensity. Something about them was most certainly wrong.

"Oh my! A prince has arrived! Things are really heating up!"

Gritting her teeth, Chie pointed at her and said, "No… you're not Yukiko. You're not her at all!"

"What are you talking about?" she gasped, full of false innocence. "I am she, and she is me! We are we."

"Oui oui," Chie's clone added with a light chuckle. A sick lurch shot through her stomach when she realised the clone had followed her inside. Now she had to deal with _two_ of them.

"Oooh la laaaa," the false Yukiko giggled as she pressed an open palm to the center of her chest, just above her ample cleavage. "But I'm afraid if you really want to woo your princess, you'll have to wait! Deeper in, deeper in!"

The shadow of Chie approached her opposite number. Were they in league with each other? Rivals? Maybe they were part of the same being, a monster that wanted to manipulate the people that fell through the TV into this hellscape… but all she did was reach up and grasp at Yukiko's hair, snapping her head backward.

" _AH!"_

"I'll go deeper in," she promised with a little smirk. "And I don't want to wait."

"Mmhh! Yes, my Prince!" That obscenely lovesick look on her face made Chie turn away from them, throat tight with disgust. "But you can only have _me_ here! I think she wants the other me!"

"Does she? Yes… yes, of course she does." She looked up in time to see the other Chie glowering down at her, despite the sinister smile. "Owning just one of you isn't enough; we need _both_ of you in our cage."

Chie wanted to smack both of their heads together. But then something Yukiko had said pushed through to her: 'deeper in'. She knew where the real Yukiko was.

"Take me to her."

"Huh?" She tilted her head, silky black hair falling to the side. "Take you what where?"

"Don't play dumb. Just… take me to my best friend! You can do whatever you want to me, but I need to see her… I need to know she's okay!"

Against all her expectations, Fake Yukiko pouted instead of looking interested or pleased. "But that's not how this is supposed to work. _You_ do whatever you want to _me._ Right? I don't wanna be the prince, I wanna be the princess!" And she actually began to sniffle a little.

"Hey, don't cry," the other Chie said with a slight chuckle, tightening her grip on the back of her hair. "I'll make you feel good if you don't cry."

"Y-you will?"

"Hey, HEY!" she shouted over the two of them. "Focus! How about this: I'll help her do that to you, whatever she wants — or I want, or whatever… if you take me to Yukiko first!"

"Oh!" The false Yukiko's face lit up with joy, cheeks turning as pink as her vile princess dress. "You promise? It's not worth it if you don't promise, I wanna hear you say it!"

"I promise. Now, can we get a move on?"

While Yukiko was giggling and literally bouncing up and down for joy, the other Chie started clapping, nodding in approval. "Daaaamn, I'm a little shocked, Satonaka. You're playing her like a fiddle. Thought you were going to insist you're nothing like me, but you're doing exactly what I would do. Bravo!"

"Just cut that out already and let's go," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. Then she felt herself being hoisted into the air. "Wha- WHOA! What are you doing?!"

"Just what you said," she sighed as false Yukiko hitched up her skirts and dashed through the other door toward the stairs. The other Chie fell in step behind her, toting the real one in a princess carry as easily as if she were a bag of flour. "Taking you to see both halves of your whole. Or should I say 'your _hole'?_ Eh? Great pun, right?"

"Disgusting. I can't believe you can talk about her that way — and you call yourself another part of me!"

Her smirk should have been illegal. "Ohhh, but I _am._ And I see right through all of your bullshit. She's a trophy to you; an ornamental piece. A refrigerator magnet. No… more like, one of those cute little buttons you have pinned to the front of your jacket there." Her head nodded down at said buttons. The sleepy smiley face had always been her favourite, but now she just wanted to rip them off and throw them away. "Something you can wear around and show everyone. Maybe that's what the red one is, right? Is that your Yukiko button?"

"It's… my 'I love exercise' button. And if you're really me, you would know that."

"But it _is_ red, like her favourite colour," she kept teasing.

"Sh-shut up. And do you have to carry me like this?! I can walk, y'know — like my button says!"

"It says you can walk?"

"No, it says I love- just shut up! GOD!"

Laughing openly at her, Other-Chie scoffed, "I'm faster than you. And I won't be a panting, sweaty mess when we get to the top floor… well, maybe once we're there…"

"Does everything you say have to be a double entendre?!"

However, she seemed to be dead on the money. In no time, they were at the top floor, and entering an ornate throne room. Somehow, the shadow Yukiko had gotten there ahead of them with enough time to spare that she could seat herself, and look as prim and proper as if she had been waiting for them for an hour. And there, at the bottom of the red carpet-lined steps leading up to the dais, was…

"YUKIKO!" Springing out of her double's arms, she ran forward and knelt by her side, curling an arm around her shoulders. This Yukiko was wearing a light pink kimono, as she typically did when working at her parents' very traditional Japanese inn.

"My, my, it's getting crowded in here," the shadow on the throne chuckled as she rose from her seat, stepping to the edge of the dais. "Why don't you and I go somewhere else? A land far, far away, where no one knows me. If you're my prince, you'll take me there, won't you? C'mon, pretty please?"

"Do you… mean me?" Chie asked hesitantly. She was a little worried about how the real Yukiko hadn't said anything yet, but curiosity would not let her ignore the shadow entirely.

"Of course, Chie! She's my prince. She always leads the way; Chie is a _strong_ prince." Then she sighed and added, "Or at least, she _was._ "

"Was?" the Other-Chie demanded, eyebrows shooting up.

"When it comes down to it, Chie's just not good enough. She can't take me away from here — can't save me! Historic inn? Manager training? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down — sick of everything being decided for me!"

"The hell I can't save you!" It was a disbelieving scoff, and the other shadow began to stride up the stairs as she continued, "I'm your prince, aren't I? I can do whatever I want with you. And you'll be grateful, because you know I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again. Well… nothing that I'm not doing to you myself."

Even while Chie herself was reeling in fresh disgust, the other Yukiko's eyes were widening. "You will? I m-mean… I really thought you couldn't help me escape my prison."

"I'll destroy your prison and make you a new one," Other-Chie said… and as she reached the top of the stairs, something about her changed. One blink, and she was identical to the real Chie; the next, a large crown appeared on her head to match the thin, delicate tiara on Other-Yukiko's head. The jacket stayed the same colour but turned into something more royal, with gold braids hanging down in loops over the shoulders. Medals replaced the buttons. And her school skirt became grey tights.

"A new one just for me?" Other-Yukiko gasped in wonder.

"Thick bars made of diamonds. The floor will be polished marble, your cot in the corner will be velvet…" Her hands smoothed up Yukiko's neck, gripping in the hair and tilting her head up. "And your _collar_ will be made of the finest leather money can buy."

"Chie…?"

Her attention instantly diverted from the shadows to the real Yukiko Amagi. She was still huddled in her arms, dazed eyes finally focusing on the stairs, up at the two figures. Then turning to the one holding her.

"Yes?" she breathed. "Are you okay?"

"Chie, what… what is… going on? How did I get here?" Already, her eyes were watering as she whispered, "A-are we going to die?"

It wasn't that Yukiko was a coward, or a weakling. She was stronger than she knew. But she _saw herself_ as weak and helpless. Chie had always tried to encourage her to train with her, thinking the kung fu might help offset that meekness, but she had shied away from it — insisting it would be seen as 'unladylike' by her extremely conservative mother. Frowned upon as something ill-suited for a girl who would one day help run the Amagi Inn to be caught doing.

"No," she whispered, a smile finally pulling at her mouth for the first time since she had entered the TV. "No way. I got your back."

"I've been s-so scared," she whispered fearfully as she trembled in her arms. "I don't know wh- don't know what's going on, but I kept thinking, if… if only you came… but how did you know where I was?"

"Boo hoo," Other-Chie jeered at them. And when she turned to look…

This was a very different scene now. Her princely green coat was now draped over her back like a cape, yakuza-style. The rest of her clothing was… something else. Was it some kind of metal bikini? Maybe it was gold; that would explain the yellow sheen. And between the thigh-high boots and opera gloves, and the smug look on her plain face… the outfit was definitely giving it a very specific connotation.

"Isn't it sickening?" Other-Yukiko sighed, shaking her head as her arms folded in front of her chest — in just the right way to push her breasts up. "They cling to each other like they're going to fall apart. And how can that other me just blubber and cry all the time?"

Other-Chie grinned and started sliding her hand up and down the small of her Yukiko's back. "Mmm, forget about them. The _real_ Chie and Yukiko have business to attend."

"Ooooh," she giggled. "What kind of business?"

"Let's get out of here," the real Yuki whispered. "Just… j-just let them do whatever that is, and… and you and I can go back to Marukyu Tofu and… and have something for dinner, and w-we'll just… forget all about this. Okay? If… if you know the way out?"

Her eyes were so hopeful when she looked up at Chie. As always. That was the look that got to her more than she had ever wanted to admit. Which, unfortunately, contributed to how badly the shadow version of herself was getting to her with each and every word…

"Look at her face," said shadow snorted instantly, grinning wolfishly down at the original Chie. "She finally gets it. She sees the ugly black mold under the _tatami_ that she had been pretending didn't _stink_ for years. Yukiko Amagi is nothing but a tool to her."

"And she loves being a tool," her Yukiko breathed as she sat her Chie in the throne, then crawled into her lap, petting up and down her arms. "I know I do."

"Come on!" the real Yukiko whispered. "Can't we go away? Do you know the way home?"

"Y-yeah," Chie whispered. Then she cleared her throat and stood up. "We're going. Back the way we came; if we can get out of the castle, I think I can take us to where we can go back through the TV."

"Through the _what?!_ I'm- WHOA! Chie-chan!"

Not wanting to mince words, she started dragging Yukiko away from the steps. The other girl couldn't move very fast, but it was as much about the restrictive kimono as it was her inferior athletic ability. But she would never give voice to it, never have complained about-

"Why is she SOOOO slow?!" Of course, Other-Chie said it _for_ her. "Doesn't she ever even go outside? Pathetic!"

"Actually… there's something wrong, my Prince."

"What?"

"They haven't paid us back yet."

"Ohhhh. I believe you're — _right!"_

A loud din of jangling metal filled the air as Chie suddenly found herself stopped short, just a few more strides from the doors. When she looked down, she saw her arms were pinned to her sides by thick chains, and they were already trying to drag her back toward the throne.

"Hey!" she shouted, struggling. "What the hell is this?!"

"You promised!" Other-Yukiko wailed, pouting as the toothily-grinning Other-Chie dragged her back toward them, up the steps and onto the dais. It hurt, but her pride was wounded far more than her body.

"Promised wh… oh. OH! B-but you already have the other me, isn't that enough?"

"You're my prince! Why should I only want one of you when _two_ princes who adore me is _twice_ the fun?"

Her shadow chuckled. "She's got you there, Satonaka."

Now Chie had a dilemma. She could see Yukiko approaching the steps, expression panicked and worried for her best friend. And all she wanted was for her to escape, to save herself. Her entire goal in entering the TV was to get Yukiko out of there!

Then she thought about something else. There were more shadows than their two clones roaming those stone hallways; all manner of beasts and ghouls and assorted horrors. Yukiko was not a fighter; never had been. She still needed her. Even if she hated that she liked it, that didn't make it untrue.

"Alright!" she gasped out. "Okay, let me out of these chains, and… and I'll do it. I'm sorry, I forgot."

"You _forgot?!"_ Yukiko asked incredulously.

"No, no, she did," her own shadow mused, eyes narrowed down at her. "So obsessed with Amagi that we stopped mattering, didn't we? You're as codependent as she is."

"Sure, yeah, whatever. Let's get on with it. What am I supposed to be doing?"

The eyes remained narrowed, but her smirk came into full bloom. "You know already."

"What? No, I really don't. Should I pull her hair like you did?"

"Chie?" asked the real Yukiko as the fake one smiled wider. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. Really, it's… I promised them…" She didn't want to continue, but her shadow had other plans, and nudged her hard with her elbow. "I promised I would d-do whatever they wanted if they took me to you. And I mean… they did, so…"

As her friend looked stricken and confused, the false Yukiko nuzzled up against her side. "Do whatever you want to me. It's going to make me feel so safe, so loved! Like my prince cares about me!"

"But _she's_ your prince!" she protested, nodding at the other Chie.

"We're both her prince. How are you still not getting this? No wonder our grades are in the toilet; we're just dumb as a fencepost, huh?" Then she picked up Chie's hands and guided them to the princess's neck. "Do what comes natural. Go on."

"What comes… natural…" Well, putting her hands on Yukiko's neck sure didn't feel that way. Even if this monster was a fake, it had her noble features, her little bow mouth… which was slightly parted in anticipation.

They wanted her to _choke_ her. It hit her like a ton of bricks, and her hands shot away as if burned. Yukiko pouted, and Other-Chie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Please, stop this," asked the real Yukiko, bowing politely. Just as she had been trained to do. "W-we just want to leave. Is that so wrong? We want to go home!"

"Not until she fulfils her promise," Other-Yukiko pouted. "And it's such an easy one! All she has to do is put me in my place like she already wants to do — everybody wins! I get to belong to my Prince, and she gets to enjoy owning me!"

Yukiko was revolted. "What are you _saying?!_ You're a person, I- no, I'm a person, and so are you, and… who would want to be owned like they're some kind of _thing?!"_

"Why, we do, obviously. We want a hot stud to sweep us off our feet, so we don't have to think about anything at all! Not managing an inn, not grades, not responsibilities. Living the life of a pet sounds so inviting, doesn't it?"

As she went on, the real Yukiko was beginning to look despondent. And Chie knew why; because she was _right_ — at least partially. It didn't mean she really wanted a life like that, but as she was now beginning to understand, it meant there was a _part_ of Yukiko that found the idea of running away from everything that was expected of her to be an extremely appealing notion. And that it distorted the bonds of their friendship. All the things she had heard Yukiko saying before, echoing off the walls… those were probably her honest feelings and wishes. Everything the shadow spouted was the worst possible version of said feelings.

"Well, I'm not going to do this forever," Chie warned them with a sigh as she reached into the shadow Yukiko's hair and scratched behind her ear. "But I will for a little while. I did promise, I guess."

"Mmm," she hummed, and the false Chie also watched with satisfaction. "My prince… it feels so good, I'm so yours…"

"Doesn't she have _any_ self-respect?" the real Yuki muttered. But it was loud enough they could hear her.

"She doesn't. You know that she doesn't and you don't." Other-Chie began to stride down the steps toward her, a red whip appearing in her hands, already pulled taut. "But while they're busy… would you like to find out how they're feeling up there? So boring, sitting around on the sidelines."

Instantly, the real Chie stepped away from the pet, letting her fall onto her elbows from the unexpected absence of her master. "You leave her _alone._ That's not part of the promise."

"It's a bonus," her opposite chuckled with a smirk. "All she has to do is say 'yes'."

"But…" She had to think fast. As usual, Yukiko looked too terrified of the imposing shadow, of the whip in her hands, to protest; she might even give in. "But I… but _your_ Yukiko wants us both!"

One eyebrow raised as she turned to smirk back over her shoulder. "But they are _both_ ours. Every Yukiko belongs to us for all eternity. Doesn't that make you feel so good? Makes _them_ feel good."

"So good," Other-Yukiko echoed, rubbing up and down her upper arms as her eyes closed in bliss at the mere fantasy.

"You lay one finger on her and the deal is off," Chie pushed stubbornly. "I said I would… d-do things to the other Yukiko, but you getting to torture my best friend isn't part of that!"

A little "Chie…" slipped out of Yukiko's lips. Then she swallowed hard and said to the other one, "Y-yes, please don't touch me. I… I don't want…"

"Liar," she insisted.

"I am not lying! I'm scared, I d-don't want to be here! And I don't want you to hurt m-"

She cut off with a yelp as the whip came whistling down, hitting the ground right next to her fingers. She clutched both hands to her chest and shrank in on herself, eyes slammed shut as she tried to blot out everything and everyone.

"She wants it," Other-Chie said with certainty. "Look at how pathetic she is. Not trying to fight me off, can't even _move_ now."

Other-Yukiko laughed and began to paw at Chie's leg, which made her a lot more uncomfortable than she could have imagined. "Poor little bitch thinks she's too good for our collars. Speaking of which…"

Suddenly, the other Chie was standing over her and holding a black spiked dog collar, dangling off the end of her index finger. She began to twirl it around and around. "Happy birthday to us."

"What's… what are you doing with that?" Now it was in real Chie's own hands. The leather was warm and heavy, and the shadow Yukiko's neck was slender, calling out for its companion. "Oh."

"Please?" she breathed needily. "Just… put it on, and we'll both be so happy…"

So she put it on. She couldn't bear to face the real Yukiko, but she managed to slide the leather around her doppelganger's throat and fit it snugly without being too tight. A sigh of gratitude fell from her as soon as it was complete, and she smiled up at Chie with what seemed like genuine affection.

"I thought you had seen how worthless I am," she whispered. "But you want me all to yourself? Really?"

"S-stop it," she muttered as she cleared her throat. "I did it because it's… what you wanted. A trade for Yukiko."

"But I'm-"

"What else do you want me to do? Huh? So we can get it done, and… and I can go home."

Now the false Yukiko looked as if she might cry. Her real life counterpart crept forward to kneel on the second step, getting a better look. Other-Chie clicked her tongue, though her expression remained as smug as ever. "So mean. Give her what she wants, and then make her feel like doggie doo. What a power move; really keep her on your leash this way."

"Cut that OUT!" Chie snapped.

"Whoa, touchy! I can't help it if the truth is too weird for you."

"You don't want to be here with me," Other-Yuki finally breathed, and Chie found herself actually feeling a pinprick of remorse. "Can't you play with me a little more before you go? I… I'm gonna miss you…"

"Oh… fine, fine. Tell me what it is you want me to do."

Her expression full of sappy affection — and the real Yukiko's full of disbelief and outrage — she began to hitch up her skirts. "Well, I did pick out something very special to wear today — so I can catch a stud, like you! But it looks like I got defeated, and these are going to waste, so… I thought-"

"Wait, wait, I'm not- you want me to see your _underwear?!"_

"Not just see it…"

Cold flooded the pit of her stomach. She turned wide eyes on the real Yukiko, who still seemed dazed but was now frowning a lot deeper than before, then back to the legs that were appearing beneath the hem of the clone's dress.

"No."

"Don't you want to go home?" she purred as her thighs came into view. "Play with me. Make me feel really, _really_ good… and you might get that wish. Pretty please?"

"NO! You're a shadow, a- a demon! Why would I do something for you I've barely ever done to myself — much less anybody else?!"

The shadow Yukiko got a little more insistent, pout more pronounced. "Because I'm your princess! Touch me — make my body come alive for you! Turn me into your willing servant!"

"Come on, stop it!"

"Why? Give me one good reason you shouldn't be ripping off my clothes and having your way with m-"

"Because I wanna do this with the _REAL_ Yukiko, not YOU!"

* * *

_To Be Continued…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys... I appreciate your interest in FTF III. Really. But poking me about it repeatedly will not make it appear faster. Especially stop asking on a completely different fanfic, it is a bit rude. Thanks in advance!

The room fell deathly silent. Chie had already known she made a mistake the instant the words left her lips, and the knowledge only hit her harder the more seconds ticked by. A little at a time, her head creaked around to look at her best friend.

Yukiko was crouching on the top step, legs out to one side. She still looked so elegant in her pretty kimono, despite the look of pure shock marring her flawless features. Helpless again. Chie knew her shadow had a point — that she did enjoy being able to protect her friend when she couldn't protect herself. The point of contention was that she didn't specifically _want_ Yukiko to be helpless.

But who wouldn't feel a certain pride in being someone's Prince?

"Chie," she was breathing in dismay, the full blush flooding her cheeks bringing her crashing back to the present. "You… c-come on, you know I don't like those kinds of jokes. This isn't funny."

"You say that like she's joking," Other-Chie laughed harshly as she forcibly bent Other-Yukiko over, hand already twisted into her silky black locks. When did she get up there? Her princess only gasped and obeyed; no resistance whatsoever. "She's wanted to bang you since forever."

"I have not!" Swinging back around, she assured her, "Seriously, I haven't. That's a straight up lie!"

"It's really not. This right here? What we're doing?" She brought her hand down on the black lace-clad hindcheek, and both Yukikos yelped in response. "You've been dreaming about doing it for a long, long time, haven't you? Almost a year. Every time you look at this plump little ass."

"STOP. That's a lie! I d-don't even know about this kind of stuff!"

"Neither do I," her best friend whispered.

"We sure don't," Other-Yukiko giggled. "But we like it. And we're really, _really_ curious about more…"

Other-Chie grinned wide, leaning against her princess's hip for a moment to gaze at the two best friends. "Ohh, Yukiko's too simple to lie, and too pure and naive to ever have a kinky thought in her whole life. She really means that. But her prince is another story. She knows about this stuff, _and_ she keeps thinking about it." Now she ran her fingers down to press against the lace-shrouded crotch, earning a gasp and a whimper from its owner. "Every time they were in the showers together… every trip to the pool, every time they tried on outfits in the Junes clothing department… the prince was checking out the princess. Dark little thoughts swirling around in her head."

"You got it all wrong," Chie growled through her teeth. "She's my _best. Friend._ I don't think those- c'mon, I'm not that kinda girl! Really! This… this fucking _thing_ is lying!"

"You know I'm not." Other-Chie was suddenly next to them both, sitting on the floor. Yukiko drew back in shock but Chie stooped down to catch her hand up, trying to lend support.

"You _are._ I never did that! NEVER! I don't 'check her out' every time!"

"Well…" With a tiny shrug, the shadow relented, "Maybe I'm stretching the truth. But you also know I'm not lying. I'm you, after all."

Before Chie could bite back that she most certainly was NOT her, Yukiko whispered, "What is she talking about?"

"Double-you… double-you… double-you." Other-Chie was smirking demonically as she went on, "Ex, aych, ay, em-"

"Whoa, whoa," Chie laughed nervously, holding up her other hand to ward off her double. "Y-you don't need to keep going! That doesn't matter, i-it's no big deal."

"Why not? You afraid sweet, chaste Princess Snow White will find out you're the Prince of Darkness?"

The remark on her name was almost cute. Chie could appreciate it; "Yukiko" meant "Snow Child", after all. But given that it was coming from this vile creature, she couldn't quite enjoy the turn of phrase as much as she might normally.

"What is she talking about?" Yukiko asked. When her friend didn't answer, she gripped her hand a little tighter with both of her own. "Chie…?"

"It's nothing. Really." Silence. "It was one time."

"One time that lasted a few hours," Other-Chie added, examining her nails as she rose to her feet, towering over both of them. Intimidating them. The real Chie kept her eyes on the floor while she explained; better that it come from her than this sham standing in front of them.

"S-so… I, um… I overheard some of the boys in class talking about some porn site one day. And that night, I went to it, and- but I was only curious, okay? I wanted to know why so many guys do that! Like, what was the big deal?" Swallowing hard, she felt her breath coming faster and shallower as she went on, "Wh-what she's talking about is… I watched one video with two girls… and… it was… really weird, but I couldn't look away, and uh…"

She had been trying to build up to it gently. Leave it to her doppelganger to blurt out with no filter, "And I couldn't help thinking, 'Would Yukiko do that with me?'"

"NO! That is _not_ what I thought!"

"The fuck it isn't, you liar," she laughed. "It's exactly what you thought."

"I thought it for _one second._ Like, because one of the girls had long black hair! I-it wasn't something I wanted to try with her, not really, it was just a… I'm not like that! Really, I'm not a pervert, and I'm not a _yuri!_ Everybody has thoughts that just… push… into their brains, even when they-"

The moment she felt Yukiko's hands pull away was the moment a light inside of her went out. Her voice fell silent, and her eyes swivelled to see pure disgust radiating off Yukiko. To her credit, she wasn't doing it in a condescending, holier-than-thou way. Her friend was genuinely shocked and alarmed by any such thoughts about her — which was no surprise. Even Yosuke simply commenting that she looked 'hot' in her kimono one day had earned him a slap across the face.

"Yuki-chan… I'm…" Her face began to crumple. "I didn't mean it… I… didn't…"

"Can we leave?" she asked her, eyes averting. "Th-this place is… terrible. I think… we should just get out of here, a-and forget we were ever anywhere besides Inaba."

"Listen to her, pretending she doesn't want to leave Inaba," Other-Yukiko giggled as she pushed her hips backward, eagerly awaiting more pleasure.

"Listen to _both_ of them," Other-Chie cooed as she ground her hips against one of her fellow shadow's. "Is Prince Charming gonna cry? Because she got caught with her hand down her pants, thinking about bending her best friend over and eating her pussy like breakfast?"

Teeth gritting hard, she snarled at the other one, "STOP. I never, _ever_ did that."

"But you wanted to. Can't lie to yourself, Prince; just because you didn't give into temptation doesn't mean you weren't tempted. Just talked yourself out of having some fun for once."

Completely defeated, Chie simply curled in on herself. Eyes watering, heart tight in her chest. And the worst part was… she could tell she was vaguely turned on. Too much attention had been called to her dalliances in the past, and knowing Yukiko knew was part of it. Being able to see Yukiko's exposed body — even if it was a copy being controlled by an otherworldly monster — was another. Either way, it only added to her anguish instead of being anything she could remotely enjoy.

"I'm sorry," she finally croaked out. "Yukiko… I didn't… you're my best friend, I…"

"She is not. She's our pet dog that we can do whatever we want with, remember? Just like Muku! And with this dog, that should include… a little show and tell. Like this." One hand pulled the leash now attached to the other Yukiko's collar taut as the other glided in a wide circle on her ass, then slapped it again — earning a squeal from its owner. "Which you love."

"We both love it," Other-Yukiko moaned aloud with a shiver.

"What?!" the real one gasped. "I do not! And I've never done such things, anyway, so how dare you claim I w-would ever like something like that!"

The doppelganger's golden eyes narrowed as she scoffed. "Really? So maybe you aren't chomping at the bit to join me up here. However, as much as you want to pretend your only reaction is disgust, we both know the idea is… interesting. You've never seen anything like this before, thought about it before, or had anyone confess to finding you attractive. Well, no one that you find attractive in return. And this calls to you in a way you've never experienced before. Right?"

Now, her best friend's deep, dark eyes were wide as dinner plates. "Attractive? _Chie?_ I… sh-she is, but I'm not interested in other women. So that… doesn't count. Right?"

"What?" Chie blinked up at her. "Wait, whoa, really? You think I'm hot?"

"I didn't say 'hot'!" she hissed. "I said you're attractive!"

Waving that notion away with her hand, she said, "Come on, I am not. Like… you're so much prettier than me."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," her clone chuckled as she gripped the other clone's pussy hard through her panties, grinding her fingers against it. Both of their originals looked away in shame at the display, trying not to hear the quavering moan that resulted.

"That's not true," Yukiko whispered. "You're very pretty. And cool, and strong — and funny! And I don't think I'm as cute as you do, I'm… so plain, and uninteresting. You're unique, like a glorious peacock."

Chie's eyebrows shot up. "A peacock? Who, me? No way!"

"Yes, you are." For just a half-second, Yukiko smiled, and everything felt like it was alright again. Then the smile fell away. "Oh… is that not acceptable to say? Because you like women?"

"No, it's fine. Wait! Wh-what I mean is… I'm not into women, either! Like, why would I be?" Then she laughed a little too loud to be believable, which eventually turned into a sigh. "But I guess… I've never thought about guys that much, either."

Her shadow kissed her way up Other-Yukiko's thigh as she muttered, "You won't admit it for some reason. Why, you may ask? The answer might surprise you!"

"Don't…"

"It's because you're scared. Aren't you? That all your friends and family will see you differently if they know you're a dirty, dirty muff-diver."

"I am NOT, though! Seriously, what muff have I dived- _doved._ Doven?"

Yukiko giggled a little. When Chie looked at her in shock, she shrugged and whispered, "What? That phrase is already funny, and you can't… change the tense, so you…" The snickering got worse.

"This is SO not the time to have one of your giggle-fits!"

"Okay, okay." But despite her assurance, she started giggling again, anyway. In no time, her arms were wrapped tightly around her sides as her entire body shook with laughter. It was ridiculously unsuited for their current situation, and yet…

And yet, all of her fear and anxiety and self-disgust seemed to grow smaller. To lose its edge. That vortex of negative emotions within her became little more than the fog that settled over Inaba after a few days' rain; not nothing, but nothing to be overly concerned about on its own.

"Awww, look at you two, bonding and sharing a moment," Other-Chie cooed as she rubbed Other-Yukiko's crotch harder and faster, lips getting closer and closer. The clone of her best friend was becoming unmade, just as the girl in the video she had watched did. Almost _exactly_ like that, in fact…

And that was when it really hit Chie. This was an exact repeat of the scene she had watched in the video, with one or two slight variations and some supervillain dialogue thrown in. As much as she had tried to deny it before, how could she pretend otherwise with so much evidence stacked against her?

"CHIE!"

Both of them whirled to look behind them at the doors as they burst open. In the lead was Yu Narukami, his washed-out grey head of hair gleaming in the light from the chandelier and torches lining the walls. In his hands was a golf club, which looked no more badass than his usual school uniform, but somehow he cut an imposing figure regardless. Right on his heels was Yosuke Hanamura, floppy brown hair flying out behind him as he skidded to a halt behind their leader, ever-present headphones adorning his neck like a bizarre ascot as he raised two gleaming daggers.

"Yukiko!" Yu demanded. "Are you alright?"

"OH NO!" Chie gasped out as she shot to her feet, took one look over her shoulder at the scene still being re-enacted on the dais, and held her arms wide. "Wh-what are you guys doing here?"

Yosuke looked confused, though still alert for any sign of a shadow attack. "What do you mean? Like… we're here to rescue Yukiko, right? And maybe you, since you ran off like that, you idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot! And… and everything's fine, you can leave! Go on, shoo!"

"Y-yes!" Yukiko said as she finally stood, doing the same as Chie. Apparently, they had tacitly agreed that they didn't want the boys seeing what their doppelgangers were doing just behind them. "We're fine! In fact, if you… will please immediately leave, we will follow you! In just a few seconds!"

"Leave?" demanded Yu, his eyes narrowed. He never said much, all things considered.

"Dude, _so_ not gonna happen," Yosuke scoffed. "We're not letting you out of our sight! This place is totally dangerous!"

"Listen to them," Other-Chie cackled in her strangely out-of-sync voice from behind them. "Soooo dangerous… for your reputations."

Chie had to grit her teeth and slam her eyes shut for a moment. There would be no pretending that was her talking; the tone was too different, too paranormal and bizarre. Plus, they had been watching her like a hawk and would have seen that her lips didn't move.

"Are those… your shadows? Behind you?"

"Don't look!" Yukiko urged, and Chie grimaced; she had been hoping not to draw _more_ attention to them, which was exactly the kind of thing a phrase like 'don't look' would do. "Please, look away! This is too obscene!"

"Obscene?" Yosuke asked, genuinely surprised. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means none of your business, you jerk," Chie snapped. "Come on, just… we can deal with this, a-and you guys-"

"Let them decide for themselves if they want to see the show," her clone purred as she stoked her counterpart's flames of passion higher and higher. "After all, you want them to know, don't you?"

Other-Yukiko giggled, "Not me. I don't want _anybody_ to know how much I love what you're doing to me. But still… kinda curious what their reactions would be. So why not?"

Yu and Yosuke glanced at each other, shrugged, and began to approach the steps cautiously. Chie held up a hand to stop them, but she couldn't seem to get any more words out; she was too terrified of what they would do once they got to the top.

"Alright," Yu said firmly as they climbed. "Whatever you do… do not deny that your shadows are you. It will enrage them and cause them to become stronger, and turn on us."

"What do you mean?!" Yukiko gasped, trying to move her arms to cover the show behind them more completely. "Th-there's no- wait, please, just stay where you are!"

"Now you got me curious," Yosuke teased lightly as he smirked up at them. They had stopped halfway up the steps, but it was obvious they wanted to keep going. "What's going on back there? It sounds a little, uh… _different_ than it was with my shadow."

"Nothing's going on! Please, just go back the way you-"

"Wait." Clearing her throat, Chie asked them, "What you said, a second ago… about not denying them. Like… aren't these just monsters, trying to copy our faces and do upsetting things? Like… like that one thing in Harry Potter?"

"Well, kinda," Yosuke sighed, becoming serious again. "They're a part of you. Like, something about this place, the world in the TV… it brings out the thoughts you don't wanna accept. Makes you face them. But if you reject them, you just gotta actually fight them with your fists instead."

"If we reject them… then they get upset…"

"This is insane!" Yukiko was babbling. And Chie could almost _feel_ the two behind them listening intently, thirsty to hear said denial. "How can you think these things are us? Th-that's- you can't be serious! This is _not_ m-"

"WAIT!"

Everyone fell silent, watching Chie carefully as she trembled on the spot. Then she pointed at the two boys, silently commanding them to stay put, before she turned back to look at the shadows.

"May I help you?" her own mocked with a slight smile. And now she could see that she had finally moved her Yuki's panties aside and had two fingers deep inside of her. The sight sent a mighty surge down to her own lower extremities, but she had to stay strong — had to ignore that heat and focus on what needed to be done. If she couldn't even do this, then she had no right to call herself Yukiko's Prince.

"You really are me, aren't you?"

Other-Chie smirked and nodded. "Yep. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is all you."

"No… not really. But it's… things I've thought about. Isn't it?" She took a step forward. "You're what I would be if I didn't care about what other people thought… what my friends think. Like, a totally selfish version of me."

"Nothing wrong with being a little selfish now and then," she countered with a shrug as she caused more and more screams to spill from Other-Yukiko's lips. Just like in the video. By the tone, it was obvious she would be finished soon.

"Fine. Maybe… maybe you're right. But I accept you, so it's time for you t-"

"Wait, hang on," she asked, and an uncharacteristic pleading look had entered her expression. "Let me finish her off. Please… I probably won't get another chance, you know."

Chie didn't know that, because she didn't understand most of what was going on, but she was definitely caught off guard. But it seemed cruel to deny her this; they had already gone so far as it was. "Um… f-fine, hurry up."

"What… are you doing?" Yukiko herself turned, and her eyes went as round as her mouth once her jaw dropped open. "Oh! Oh my GOD!"

Now they were both watching their other selves engage in this display of debauchery. A quick glance over at Yukiko showed that she was definitely not hating it as much as she protested, even if the disgust _had_ been genuine. As she said herself, she hated 'jokes' like these. Anything remotely sexual had been met with stern disapproval in the past. Maybe this would change now that she had been confronted by the darkest desires of her own heart.

"Uhhhh, girls?"

"CAN IT!" Chie snapped back at Yosuke. "Just… we're going to let them finish, since they're us, a-and then we'll accept them! That's supposed to stop them from hurting anyone, right?"

"Sure," he said, and a glance showed that his cheeks were flushed. "But like, it's cruel for us to hear what's happening and not be allowed to look…"

"You don't get to see this! Like, no way, are you crazy?! Just get out of here, already!"

"We can't," Yu said, even though he was clearly a little flustered. "Not when your safety is a concern." And from Yu, she actually believed him.

"Yeah, your safety." Yosuke, she did _not_ believe.

"Yeah!" Other-Yuki was gasping out, hips rolling back against the punishing fingers. "A-almost there, Chie-chan! More! Give me more!"

"You got it!" Harder and harder, she punished her insides. "And you're going to call me 'Prince', aren't you?"

"OH! Yes, my Prince! YES! MMmhhhHHHHH!"

By now, there wasn't a face in that throne room that was any colour besides scarlet. The real versions of Chie and Yukiko watched their counterparts finish up their carnal act, sweat running down the sides of their faces… and something else running down the insides of their thighs. Both of them. It was obscene, but also somehow romantic; it felt like a lot of that animosity between them had dissipated once she started admitting that this wasn't purely a lie.

"This… is so unseemly…" Yukiko couldn't form words. She glanced up at Chie's blushing face, then pushed a hand against her own mouth as she looked at their clones again. "How can you think they're really us? Look at this! It's… so…"

"They are," Chie sighed — and it would have been weary, except she felt anything _but_ tired. "It's… really messed up, and I'm sorry. But she's a part of me. I just haven't wanted to admit it, because… I'm so disgusting. But it's true. She's me."

Other-Chie stood and withdrew her fingers as her clothes melted back into the same outfit the real one was wearing. And then she started getting lighter, and lighter. A transformation was taking place within the spectral form: a yellow jumpsuit taking the place of the metallic bikini, a pointed white helmet covering her head, and a double-bladed _ko-naginata_ in one hand. While she could still be seen, she laughed warmly.

"Wow. We're stronger than I thought we were, Prince. Maybe there's hope for us yet."

And then she was gone. No, that wasn't quite right; she had become part of Chie again. She could feel it settling into the pit of her stomach; guilt, nausea, desire. Not that it had ever really been gone from her while the shadow-clone existed — it was just a little harder to ignore now than before. Plus she felt fatigued as if she had just run a dozen meters, but it was nothing that a good nap couldn't cure.

"She's gone!" Yukiko gasped.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," her own clone whimpered, frowning. "Only got me off once and now she went away. And my Prince won't play with me; only the _other_ Prince."

"W-we already played with you," Chie sighed. "And I did help, like I promised. I put the collar on you, and… and I let my shadow make you feel good. Right? So can't you go back into Yukiko now?"

"That's not how it works. She has to accept me, remember? That I'm part of her. That she loved what she saw just now, even if she's so confused by most of it…"

Distressed, Yukiko shook her head back and forth. "P-please, stop all these games. This isn't true! You're not mhhhgg!"

It was Yosuke's hands that wrapped around her mouth to stop her. Yukiko started punching at them but he had a decent grip. The clone had flickered for a second, become brighter, and then lapsed back into the post-coital depressed creature she had been again.

"Whew!" Yu sighed as he came up to stand beside the others. "That was close."

"Yukiko, stop!" Yosuke told her urgently. "I know this is probably… weird, and a lot to take in, but you can't reject her! Or she'll attack! Just… just accept that she's part of you so we can all go home now!"

When Yukiko looked not only distressed, but angry, Chie came to stand in front of her and clamped her hands down on both of her shoulders. "I… I know. I didn't want to, either, because… because I didn't want you to see. I didn't want to admit I've ever thought such terrible things, a-about you, or about our friendship. They suck. But it's _me_ who sucks, Yuki-chan. Seriously, I'm a jerk, I… most of the time I do okay, but sometimes really stupid stuff goes through my brain. And it's not on purpose but it's still not right. I'm gonna work on it, okay? I'll do better, I…" She cleared her throat and set her face in determination. "But Yosuke's right. You can't fight this; that _is_ you down there. It's a piece of you that you don't like very much, but she's you, and… and if you deny it, you'll only make things worse."

It seemed to do the trick. Yukiko stopped struggling, and her two friends let their hands fall away. Hoping desperately she would make the right choice. It took her a few seconds of shivering and thinking before she took action.

"Um…" Hands on her knees, Yuki stooped down and knelt by the sobbing princess-clone. "Yukiko?"

"Y-yes?"

"You really miss your prince, don't you?"

"Of course!" she bawled. "One minute, I felt amazing, and n-now… now she's gone! I hate it! I need my prince — I need my Chie! What am I going to do without her?! I… nobody can tell me what to do but her!"

Fresh embarrassment sprouted in the real Yukiko's eyes, but she powered through. "It's okay. We'll stay by her side together. Is… is that what you want?"

"You… you promise?"

"I do. I'll do my best from now on. You and I will together, since you're… me. I guess."

Even though Yukiko's face could only be described as a mask of disgust, it still seemed that her clone was thrilled with her. A look of pure elation was on her features as she faded from existence… turning briefly into the image of an ancient priestess that took Chie's breath away. Beautiful pink-and-red flowers with long petals fanned out from her hands, and the white shape of a heart covered her rose-tinted chest. Her features were very nearly… alien.

But she barely had enough time to register that she had seen it before they heard a vaguely echoing "thank you", and she was gone.

"Oh wow, that's a-" Yosuke didn't get any further than that before Yukiko started to sag toward the floor. "Whoa! Hey, be careful!"

Chie was just able to help him keep her from whacking her head, and they gently lowered her to the steps. They had won; they beat those annoying shadows into submission and got them to vanish! Even though she was still a little worried about the way they transformed into someone else before fading back into the host bodies, it was better than fighting them, at least.

But now they had to get out of here. Through their combined efforts, all three of them were able to carry her all the way to the entrance of the throne room.

"Whew!" Chie gasped, sweat rolling down her temples. "When did… she get so… heavy?! She's taller than me but weighs the same!"

"And there's three of us," Yosuke grunted. "Like, somebody put this girl on a freakin' diet!"

"S… sorry," she just barely mumbled.

"It's okay, Yuki-chan," her best friend assured her as she staggered to a stop. "But I think I… need a little… break… m'kay?"

That was the last thing she could manage before the floor was surging up to meet her, two voices were crying out in shock, and total darkness stole over that other world.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

Chie was warm when she awoke the next morning. What a lovely feeling! She couldn't remember how long it had been since she last felt this peaceful — as if pure sunshine itself were wrapping around her, coiled like an affectionate snake. Even though that was a very weird mental image.

Speaking of which… the sunshine itself was just barely peeking in through the windows of the room, making her close her eyes a little tighter as she snuggled harder against her pillow. All she wanted to do was sleep in and forget the frightening, insane dream she had. Yukiko falling into the TV? Monster clones crawling all over each other — and worse still, Yu and Yosuke seeing them like that?! Horrible and crazy, even if the ending of the dream was a little less unpleasant. No, she would rather just think about sunshine and her best friend and let the nightmare fade into nothingness.

"Yukiko…" she breathed with a small smile.

"Hmm?"

The response didn't startle her. Not at first. She simply was too comfortable, too happy, for the reality of the situation to poke through that fuzzy blanket of contentment. However, she did start to feel like either her pillow was a little too warm, or her dog somehow knew the word "Hmm" now. And come to that, Muku wasn't an inside dog. Why was he in her bed today?

When she moved her face just a little to snuggle closer and hopefully fall back asleep, she could suddenly tell that there was hair covering her pillow. Not fabric, and not dog fur either… actual human hair. That was weird. Her brain finally put it together: the least weird thing to be covered in human hair was a human, not a pillow or a dog. So that meant…

That meant…

Drawing backward, Chie opened her eyes to observe a sea of silky black strands. _Yukiko._ She didn't need to scroll through some huge list of people it could be; she knew, even without seeing anything else. This wasn't the first time they had fallen asleep together and awoken in the same bed. Just the first time since finding out a shadowy part of her heart wanted to wake up next to her _every_ morning.

Moving her arm a little showed her that it was around Yukiko's stomach. And it felt _so good_ there… who wouldn't love to spoon the junior innkeeper? Flawless goddess that she was. Practically everybody who went to Yasogami High shared that opinion; with the exception of Ai Ebihara, who was gorgeous but as snooty and unpleasant as they came, she was most definitely the hottest girl in school. She had even overheard a couple of "If I were gay" discussions in the locker room that hinted Yukiko would be their ideal.

But now, Chie and Yukiko _were_ gay. For real, not just hypothetically.

"Oh shit," she breathed when she remembered that particular detail. The shadows had been telling the truth. Sure, she knew she could put up a fight, try to pretend it was all a dream or they were lying, but the moment she accepted that other Chie into her heart she relinquished all right to deny it any longer. "Yukiko… I think we're in trouble."

"Hmm?" she groaned again, squirming a little in Chie's embrace. Her hand drifted up to rest on the back of Chie's, which made her smile. What a tender touch. "Prince? What time is it?"

Now she burst into a full rosy blush like she never had before. Yukiko was calling her that in her sleep now? She had thought the shadow exaggerated that slightly, like they tended to do, but apparently it was no exaggeration. Before she could think through her response, it was out of her mouth and into the air.

"I don't know, Princess."

Yukiko's dark eyes fluttered open, staring at the wall bordering the window. Now she could see this was Yuki's room; her brain hadn't been firing on all cylinders before. Such a traditional Japanese room, complete with low tables and tatami, a bonsai on a small table in the corner, hanging calligraphy — and they were curled up in a futon that was luxurious for one person but very slightly too small for two. There was also a poster of a pop group Yukiko loved, but it was framed; probably a compromise on her mother's part.

"Chie-chan?" she breathed.

"Yeah?"

"It's you. Why… last night, what happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing happened!" That was her first instinct; cover her own ass, make sure Yukiko didn't think she was being a creep. Then she cleared her throat. "I m-mean, uh… I don't know. What do you remember?"

Her warm body shifted, and Chie felt her neck growing yet hotter. This felt too good in a way it never had before. "I remember… the castle. You saved me. I'm… _oh._ "

"Oh?"

"I remember our shadows."

"Damn," she sighed. "I was kinda hoping you'd forget that part. So embarrassing!"

"I know! I've never… how could that other me be s-so indecent? I've never had thoughts like those before!"

Chie sighed, petting up and down her best friend's stomach. She felt the muscles twitch and shift in response. "Um… yeah, but… I have. And I think the shadows kinda, um, fed off each other? Or something, I guess. I don't know."

Finally, Yukiko turned just enough so she could look at her best friend out of the corner of her eye. "You've really thought about me that way?"

"Not… like the shadow said I did. I wasn't trying to…" She grimaced, and Yukiko's expression grew more concerned. "Never wanted to be with you… _like that._ It was just a thought or two, I promise. Because there's never been any guys I was really into, y'know? So after seeing that video, I… y-you're so pretty, and we're already best friends… so I had to wonder…"

"You had to wonder…?" When Chie didn't continue, she bit her lip for a moment before whispering, "If maybe you and I could be like the girls in the video?"

"Yeah! But then I was like, that's stupid, right? We're friends! And that's cool! You've been my best friend practically my whole life, and I love that. I don't wanna mess it up."

"Chie… why are we in bed together?"

Swallowing hard, she tried to scrape together two brain cells. "Well… you collapsed in the castle, and then I was trying to help carry you out… and after that… man, I really don't remember."

"If…" Yukiko rolled onto her back, and Chie felt even more self-conscious now that they could see each other. That perfect, angelic face, gazing up at her with concern and trust. She didn't deserve that. "Maybe Yu and Yosuke couldn't carry both of us all the way to both houses? So they just left you here."

"Maybe…" She sighed, looking away. "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. I didn't mean to flake."

"Flake? What do you mean?"

"I should have been able to carry you all the way home, if I'm really your… well, y'know."

"My prince?" When Chie nodded, she let out the softest little chuckle. "You really think I don't still see you that way? You went to an entire _other world_ for me. A-and you accepted your shadow, even after she told everyone that you… after she did those things to the other Yukiko."

"I couldn't hide from them anymore," she sighed, slumping just a little. "Not with it all out in the open, and… and it being the truth."

"No, that's not what I was trying to explain. I know the only reason you accepted that was to make sure I was safe. I could tell." Her hand drifted up to cup Chie's cheek. "My brave prince, risking her life, and then… her reputation in front of the guys. And all I did was be a victim."

Eyebrows furrowing, she leaned a little closer. "Don't say it like that. We were all victims — of whoever's behind this stupid stuff. How were you supposed to know you'd get kidnapped?!"

"But I couldn't protect myself," she insisted. "Couldn't stop them from catching me and throwing me into the TV. What kind of pathetic-"

"Stop! You have every right to just… be a peaceful, gentle girl, who likes to study, and laugh at stupid jokes, a-and… and I would die to defend that right!"

Yukiko's face suddenly grew deathly serious. _"No._ Please don't say things like that, Chie. I don't want to think about… well, I just don't want to think about that. Okay?"

"Okay," she acquiesced with a little nod. While Yukiko was breathing a sigh of relief, she kissed her cheek. "I'm just glad we got you back safe and sound."

"Oh," Yukiko breathed. Only then did Chie realise what she had done, but her friend was already smiling. "Y-yes. Thank you."

"S-sorry."

"No, no, it's alright! It felt very…" She trailed off, the bridge of her nose and her cheeks turning pink. "I can't believe this is real. We're… I didn't even know. How could I not know I had those feelings buried inside of me? Am I stupid?"

"Only if I am, too," she chuckled, and Yukiko grinned bashfully.

"I guess you're right. We can't pretend that both of our shadows weren't having a great time over there."

"We could," Chie hedged playfully. "Try to pretend the whole thing was just a big hallucination. But now that Tomoe is a part of me, I don't think it's gonna work very well."

"Tomoe?"

After blinking for a moment, Chie breathed, "Whoa. I just… _knew_ that name. That's the other me; her name is Tomoe. How? She never told me…"

"Konohana Sakuya."

"Huh?"

"That's… mine's name," she explained, sounding just as confused as Chie. "They're part of us, but… also something else. I saw them change before we accepted them; do you think…?"

"I don't know," she admitted readily. "Seriously, I wish I did. But I remember Yosuke saying something about that when we were all talking about what happened when him and Yu went into the TV before. They used a word… I just can't remember what it was now."

"That's alright. We can ask them later." They shifted and felt their legs graze each other's, and Yukiko giggled a bit. "Wow, this feels very different from before."

"You bet. I'm… I don't know what to do."

"What do you want to do? We can get up now if that's-"

"NO! I mean, uhh… it's okay. We can chill for a minute."

Yukiko smiled sweetly up at her, even if her face was glowing crimson. "You don't have to do that anymore, you know. Hide your true feelings. If you do want to… _be close_ to me, we can do that. It's a little scary since it's new, but I… don't mind. Not at all."

"Really? It's not too weird?" She moved her legs again. "I don't think, um… we're wearing very much. Under the sheets."

"Y-yeah. It's… don't worry, I'm sure it was my mother who undressed us, or one of the other women."

"It had better have been. I'll punt that Yosuke to the moon if he even took off _one_ of my shoes!" They both giggled a little before relaxing again, even if they weren't fully relaxed. Too much excitement.

"Your legs are smooth," Yukiko commented out of nowhere. "A-against mine. Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Well… it's strange, isn't it? For us to be doing this, and… I want to tell you what I'm thinking, but I'm also ashamed of those things. It's silly; I just got done telling you everything is fine, and yet…"

One of Chie's shoulders rose and fell with a little shrug. "It's okay. Seriously, I'm… don't worry about me judging you. I'm pretty sure it's my fault we even saw our shadows doing that since I'm the perv."

"You are not a perv," she chuckled. "Unless you were lying about how often you go to watch those videos."

"I wasn't. Like, I only went on there once." Sighing, she forced herself to admit, "I did watch more than one video, though. Like, a few. But I felt so creepy afterward that I couldn't let myself go back."

"I see. Did you want to look at some together?"

Chie nearly lost her mind at that thought. Therefore, she was quick to assure her, "S-some other time! Maybe? I dunno, um…"

"O-oh, okay," Yukiko quickly agreed, nodding as she swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to upset you, or to suggest something… too unpleasant. Just trying to help."

"You are! I mean it, this is really… I'm so happy that you're not skeeved, or think I'm being a perv, or hating me for… being gross with that website. I just… got curious, and then it was super fascinating."

After debating internally for a second, Yukiko whispered, "And then, you pictured the two of us doing the same thing?" No answer. Yukiko reached up to pet along her cheek again as she added, "It's alright. I think… w-well, I don't like anyone thinking of me that way. It seems vulgar. Except, knowing you have… it doesn't make me angry like Yosuke does when he asks what my measurements are."

Chie's lip curled. "That boy is a real horndog. Not a bad guy overall, but like, he's sure got a one-track mind."

"Yeah!" she agreed with a musical laugh that made Chie melt in a way it never had before. She always loved it, sure, but now it had a deeper effect than could be explained away. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to get us into swimsuits as soon as the weather's warmer."

"Probably right! I mean, God, why is he like that?!" They both giggled for a few seconds, trying to relax against each other's bodies despite the electricity sparking between them. Then Chie cuddled a little closer, feeling Yukiko's arms tighten around her back. "Mmm…"

A tender mouth came to rest against the crown of her head, pushing into the hair a tiny bit — not quite a kiss. Just a tender gesture. "Chie… I don't understand a lot of this. I really don't. But I want you to know something."

"What's up?" she breathed.

"That you and I… we're friends. And not just 'I'll see you in class' friends, but 'I'll see you every day for the rest of our lives' friends. Even if we aren't… _that_ kind, if our feelings aren't the same, that doesn't matter. I will never turn my back on this friendship."

Her heart felt like it could burst. "Y-Yuki-chan… I… for real? You and me, forever?"

"Sorry."

"No, no, I feel the same way!"

"You do?!" When Chie nodded, she embraced her even more tightly. "Oh, Chie… I've felt that way for a long time! I just wasn't sure if I should say it, or if it would be too strange. Since it sounded like…"

When she didn't finish the thought after a few seconds, she whispered, "Yeah. It sure does sound like… a love confession."

"Right. And of course, I love you. I'm just… not sure what kind of…"

"Hey, don't sweat it," she reassured her with a smile as she held onto her friend. Trying to ignore how warm she was, how good she smelled… how little they were wearing, even if it was underneath bedsheets. "We'll figure that out. Probably."

For a few minutes, they simply laid there, too afraid to continue. To misspeak and change the whole situation sooner than either of them were prepared for. Finally, Yukiko cleared her throat as she caressed up and down Chie's mostly-bare back, fingers tripping slightly over the strap of her sports bra.

"So… um… fingers can really… do that to a woman? And it doesn't hurt?"

Instantly, Chie turned back into a mess. It became a lot harder to ignore certain physical reactions when forced to think about that spectacle their shadows put on again — especially when she could feel a very warm hip pushing against the area in question.

"Y-yeah, I guess so! Not that I tried it, but I, u-um… looked like it to me."

"Wow…"

"I know, right? Crazy…"

Licking her lips, Yukiko whispered, "And you would want to try that with me?"

"NO! I uh, I mean… yeah? But we're not doing that kind of stuff, so it's fine! Really, I'm just… I feel a little light-headed, do you feel light-headed? Is it hot in here or is it just you?"

Yukiko had been laughing until the last part, which made her gasp. "Me? Hot?!"

"Yeah, you! Geez, haven't you ever looked in a mirror? Don't you hear how the boys talk about you in school?"

"W-well… I think boys just talk about girls like that all the time," she hedged, cheeks flaming red. "And of course, I know I'm not ugly, but I also don't think I'm particularly pretty. Or unique; I'm such a common girl. What about Ebihara-san? She's much prettier than me. And so are you!"

Chuckling just a little at her friend's modesty — which she knew was true and not a facade, thanks to their shadow-encounters — she kissed her cheek and whispered, "You're beautiful, ya idiot. And everybody knows Ebihara's a bitch."

"CHIE!" she cried out in shock, even though she started giggling a moment later. Chie allowed herself to relax into the embrace as her friend shook with mirth for a few seconds. "I… I can't believe you said that!"

"What? It's true! She's a huge bitch and nobody can stand her. I mean… she's probably just really insecure or whatever, but does that have to mean she takes it out on the rest of us?"

Yukiko nodded thoughtfully as they relaxed against each other. "I wonder… if she went into the TV with us… what her shadow would be like? Or my parents, or… anyone. Not that I want them to have to go through what we have, or what the reporter and Saki-san did, for sure — _nobody else_ should die. I'm just curious what secrets are in their hearts; it might explain why Ebihara-san is so, um, unpleasant."

"Who knows?" she sighed, relaxing a little more as they both fell silent. At least they had the topic of the egomaniacal Ai to distract them for a few seconds.

What should they do now? Of course, they could just keep lying there, but given that she already felt the embers of need trying to catch the rest of her on fire, that was a bad plan if she didn't want to end up repeating what the shadows had done. Which neither of them was quite ready for. Could they actually just get up and start acting like everything was fine? No, that ship had sailed; actually watching part of their own selves acting out secret fantasies would not be so easy to forget as a slip of a tongue, or a lingering glance.

"Yuki-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Um… I'm sorry for how I used to think about you." There, perfect. This was something she needed to do, anyway, and it would help keep them from thinking too hard about other matters. "For thinking of you as dependent on me, o-or whatever. I know we kind of already went over that, but I wanted to formally apologi-"

"Shhh," she shushed her, kissing her cheek. "Chie, don't. I know… I know I put you on a pedestal, and you enjoyed the pedestal. We both could have been… smarter? Or more wise? Or maybe just more honest about our feelings with each other. A-anyway, I, um… I don't like you any less, and I don't think you're a bad person at all. So don't worry about those things."

Great. Yukiko was so kind and understanding that now they had nothing to distract them from the deeper worries about their sexuality. And since they had already admitted their feelings, more or less…

"D-does this mean… we're… dating?"

"Does it?" Yukiko asked, eyebrows shooting upward. "Wow…"

Grimacing, she hissed, "Don't just accept it like that! We're both girls, aren't we?"

"Well, yes. But I've read somewhere that it's becoming more and more commonly accepted in other parts of the world. There are countries in Africa where it's still punishable by death, but everywhere else…"

"Death!" she squeaked, clutching at her own throat.

"Stop," she snorted with a slight smile. "It's terrible, yes, but I don't plan on moving to Africa, so you and I should be safe."

Chie forced herself to breathe. Then she cleared her throat and followed up with, "Still, um… we're in Japan. It's weird here, right? They're going to look at us funny."

"Maybe…" She frowned a little, then she shrugged. "But how will they know we're not just friends?"

"Well, that- oh. Oh, I guess you're right, huh? Unless we make out in the middle of class, anyway."

"You want to make out in the middle of class?" Chie's brain short-circuited for a minute before Yukiko giggled. "Sorry, that was mean. I made you picture it, I think."

"N-not 'mean'! Nope! And what do you mean? I didn't picture anything!" When her friend only continued to giggle at her expense, belly shaking, Chie rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're such a goof. Do you know that? Like, everybody else is fooled by your cute 'proper lady' kimono-wearing facade, but not me. I see who you really are."

Her smile was coy as she gazed upward, the sun coming through the window in just the right way to sparkle in one of her eyes. "And who am I?"

What Chie had been going to say was something along the lines of "a nerd"; she actually wasn't entirely sure. But seeing her like that prompted a quiet, "Perfect."

"What?" Yukiko's smile disappeared, only to reappear smaller and alongside a rosy blush. "O-oh."

"What?"

"I didn't think… you were going to say something like…" Throat working to swallow, she looked away. "Wow. You really _are_ a prince."

"A-ah, come on," she tried to laugh it off. "Just because I said that one thing?"

"No. It's the way you said it; the way you were looking at me when you did. There was this dreamy sincerity in your eyes, and… your voice was so serious. I got goosebumps." When Chie laughed again, she pushed down the sheet and raised up an arm. "No really! Look, I have them!"

However, Chie became distracted by something else other than the tiny scores of bumps along Yukiko's arm. There was no bra. She had still been expecting actual clothes, really, but even beyond _those_ having gone missing, her best friend was topless. And unless she missed her guess, those peaks were erect — probably for the same reason her arm had blossomed into gooseflesh.

Because of Chie.

"Oh!" Yukiko suddenly gasped when she realised, her other arm sliding up to lay across her chest and conceal everything. "Oh no, I- I'm sorry, I w-wasn't… sometimes I can be such a ditz!"

"Yeah…" Once hearing she said that, she hurried to assure her, "Wait, hang on, you're n-not a ditz. I don't think that! I meant, um… it's okay! Yeah."

Both of them were red enough in the face that they probably could have cooked omelettes on their cheeks. Chie took a quick glance down to see if she was clothed, and she was — in her sports bra. At least it was something. Yukiko was probably either wearing no bra before, or hers was nicer and more elaborate, so the women who worked at the inn had removed it so she could rest comfortably after her ordeal. It made sense, even if it resulted in this awkward situation.

"...want to…"

"What?"

Yukiko was quick to shake her head. "Nothing."

"No, really," Chie insisted. "I missed what you said."

"I asked if you wanted… to… t-touch them?"

Licking her lips, she glanced around the room. "Okay, I uh… I know we said we'd do that whole 'honesty' thing from now on. But are you sure you wanna be asking me questions like that?"

"I am," she whispered. "Even if the answers might scare me a little, I could never be _really_ scared. Not with you next to me."

Heart bursting with love, Chie smiled down at her and leaned in for a gentle kiss. Neither of them were really ready, but she suddenly knew that there was no point in depriving each other of the chance to experience this connection — one that had existed all along. They just lied to themselves about what _kind_ of connection it was.

And Yukiko's lips were soft, sweet. Perfect like the rest of her. Chie found she never wanted to stop. Her hand drifted up to grip Yukiko's upper arm, and both of Yuki's hands rested lightly on her collarbone as the kiss deepened — just like a princess! This was crazy!

"Oh wow," Yuki breathed once they parted for air.

"Shit," Chie rasped in a voice husky with need. Then she cleared her throat to try again. "I m-mean… that was… I've never… _shit."_

Her friend giggled warmly, one hand drifting up to cup her cheek. "My eloquent prince."

"Sh-shut up." When she only giggled more, Chie bumped their noses together with a bashful smile. "But yeah, that was amazing. And I, uh, I wouldn't mind doing some more."

"Doing some more kissing? Is that a proper way to phrase it?"

"I don't even care, man. Like, I'm trying not to scream and roll around on the floor!" They both giggled this time, and Chie buried her face in her hand. "You're my princess. How did I not see… was I just really dumb?"

"I feel pretty dumb, too, so it's okay." Pillowy lips grazed her cheek and sent her heart skipping over a beat. "But um… we should probably take a break. Before one of us faints."

"That might be a good idea." When Yukiko started to stand up, she covered her eyes. "AH!"

"Oh! Do you… not want to see my body? I'm sorry…"

As fervently as she could, she shook her head. "That's not it! I'm just… like, if I'm kind of the 'boy' now, you aren't supposed to be showing off the goods, right? Like, u-um… maybe that's stupid. Sorry! I don't know what the hell I'm saying anymore!"

"It's okay," Yukiko laughed lightly. "But you're not a boy; you're just… my prince. Prince Chie. And if you want your princess to be more modest, I can be."

"That wasn't what I meant, either; it's not that you're doing something bad! You're great! REALLY great! B-but I shouldn't be a, um, a pervert-prince."

"Ohhh… okay, I think I understand. You want my permission to look? Instead of just, um, accidentally sneaking a peek?"

"Yes. Or like, um… well, yeah, pretty much. But I don't want you to give it right now just because I'm in the room."

The quietest little giggle almost made her look anyway. "You've already seen my body."

"That wasn't you. Probably my imagination's like, _idea_ of what you would look like naked? But you'd have to tell me if it was, uh… accurate."

"How am I supposed to do that? I have no idea what I look like down there!"

"Like I would?! And it's your body!"

"Chie!" she gasped, a little embarrassed now. "Wh-why would I look at myself like that? I'd need a mirror, and… a-and I, u-um…"

Finally dropping her hands, she saw Yukiko had donned a kimono — not the somewhat ornate _tsukesage_ she had been wearing when dragged into the Midnight Channel, which there would be no way she could get all that on in the limited time since getting up, but a simple pink-and-white chequed _yukata_. Chie felt her tiny flicker of lust turning to contentment and affection.

"You never got curious?" she asked as she got up. Now it was Yukiko's turn to blush and look away, and Chie made straight for the similar red-and-white _yukata_ that had been hanging next to Yukiko's. She wanted them to both be comfortable instead of anxious. "I did."

"You did?!"

"Sure. I mean, I didn't do anything super crazy, just… when I learned to use a tampon…" Then she laughed awkwardly. "Maybe this is nasty to talk about, anyway."

"No, no, it's alright. I never…" Clearing her throat, she rephrased, "I use pads."

"Ohhhh. Yeah okay, I guess you wouldn't have." Then she tied the robe around the waist and approached her friend. "Well, I'm sure it's… nice?"

Flushed and squirming, she chanced a smile up at Chie. "I h-hope so. For you. Whenever we, u-um… not that we need to."

"Right! For sure! Nobody's holding a gun to our heads, _telling_ us we have to bone!" At the last word, Yukiko flinched, so she grimaced and added, "Too far? I'm sorry, I know you're not real thrilled about people using-"

"It's alright. We're um… this is a very stressful and new situation. And I should probably get over things like that if I'm ever going to be a good wife for you."

Now it was Chie's turn to flush brick red, brain misfiring and leaving her stuttering and gaping at her. _Wife._ Was that where this was heading? Marriage?! But two women couldn't get married! Maybe they could live together, sure, but wouldn't that basically make them lifelong roommates? Who had sex? And kissed, and took care of each other, and…

"I guess you will be," she breathed aloud as the realisation hit her. "And I'll be a good wife for you, too! Like, _so_ good, I swear!"

Yukiko reached forward to take up Chie's hands, holding them loosely as they gazed into each other's eyes. "Of course you will. I might be scared, and have no idea what I'm doing, but it's not about who you are. I know you're the best person in my life." They shared a small kiss — that still sent tingles along Chie's spine, despite how brief and chaste it was — before she added, "But aren't you the husband?"

"Hey, I draw the line at 'prince'," she laughed back. "You want a husband, you better ask Yu."

"No, thank you," she giggled. "He's very sweet but he isn't my Prince."

"Yosuke?"

"EW! That's so intolerable — he would be the _worst!"_

Chie cackled as they headed for the bedroom door to finally start their day, hand in hand. "Right?! He'd be better off with some girl like Ebihara!"

"Well, let's not go _too_ far… I'm not sure who doesn't deserve whom in that scenario."

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try not to get too serious in my notes, but I wanted to take this brief moment to say I hope everyone will give their time and efforts to a few petitions for racial justice in the USA. Donate if you have money, and attend peaceful protests if you have the time and access and are able. We all deserve peace and prosperity, not poverty and inequality. Thank you. Now on with our regularly scheduled smut.

Breakfast at the Amagi Inn was a rare treat Chie had not enjoyed in a long time. They had stayed over at each other's houses when they were little quite often, but that had become a bit more rare the past few years. It just wasn't "adult" to have sleepovers. That seemed like a shame, because it was a wonderful way to ensure that you got more than a few passing hours with a friend, but social stigmas are more powerful than anyone wants to give them credit for.

Luckily, the group had gone into the TV to save Yukiko on a Saturday night, so they had all of Sunday to rest and recuperate. The two of them idly walked around the halls in their slippers, smiling and casting sheepishly delighted glances at each other. Conversations remained on light topics like the weather and upcoming exams, the inn, and Chie's dog, Muku. They knew they were in public so that was the best they could do.

They eventually returned to Yukiko's room for a nap. Mrs. Amagi was aware that she had been kidnapped, even if she withheld the truth of the details, so they were allowed to relax and recover. However…

"I can't sleep."

Chie rolled over to face her girlfriend. They had never bothered to get a second futon, so they were snug as two peas in a pod again. "Me, either. But I am tired and don't wanna get up and do anything yet."

"Yeah." Glancing over at her, Yukiko fiddled with her hands under the blanket; Chie could see the bump moving around. "Um… can we…"

"Can we what?" Chie asked.

"K-kiss."

"Oh." Her cheeks were already heating up, but she cleared her throat to give herself an excuse for it. "Y-you want to? Like, for real, not just because we're losing it and can't figure out how to deal with our emotions?"

"Yes, for real," she chuckled softly. "But it's alright, you don't have to if it's too strange."

"Wait! I didn't mean I… wh-what I'm saying is, I do. I want to."

Yukiko's small smile vanished amid her surprise. "Oh. Really? Wow… I'm… that still surprises me. But I'm happy."

"Yeah?" As if to suddenly prove she meant it, she leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. "Well, that one's just for starters."

"Oh, is it?" Another got her sighing and closing her eyes. "Chie…"

That opened the floodgates for a lot more. Though she never would have thought herself capable of such displays of romance, even with a boy much less another girl, Chie found she couldn't seem to stop now that they had pushed through all their reservations — including those thrust upon them by a homogenous, somewhat-conservative Japanese society. Fuck what anyone else thought; they needed to take care of themselves. Be true to their inner feelings.

Which, apparently… were a lot stronger than either of them realised. The next thing she knew, Yukiko was on top of her body, and Chie was clutching at her back as their tongues began to hesitantly search each other out, little half-heard hums accompanying the actions. This was crazy! Wasn't somebody going to stop them? Where was Yosuke with a lewd comment to shame them out of continuing? Where was Yu with a firehose?!

"O-oh," Yukiko groaned when they parted, leaning her forehead against the side of Chie's once she had turned aside to catch her own breath. "That was…"

"Amazing! I've never… God, I'm in shock!"

"That too! But I was going to say 'that was your tongue, wasn't it?'"

Somehow flushing even darker than she had been seconds before, Chie cleared her throat so she could say in a voice that was still hoarse, "I… um… sorry about that! Man, I just got so into this, I don't even know what I was-"

"I didn't say I disliked it," she whispered, kissing Chie's neck and making her shiver all over. "You did surprise me, but I liked it. A lot."

"Oh. Well, uh… that's great! Right?"

"Yeah."

"Can… I do it again?"

"Yeah. Please."

The next several minutes of kisses were a blur as they rolled over again, Chie pushing her down into the futon. She knew she was turned on; had been since the moment their lips met, and the heat only blazed stronger in the time since. What about Yukiko? They really did seem to be in sync so she had a feeling the answer would be "yes", but she still felt such overwhelming disbelief that they were doing any of this in the first place that making assumptions seemed like a one-way ticket to disaster.

"Chie, I…"

"Yes?" she gasped as she drew back from her neck, having left a red spot on her pale skin.

"I feel… like I want to… find out what it's like." When her friend's hazel eyes moved into position to look into hers, Yukiko's darker ones averted. "To f-feel what my shadow felt yours doing to her."

The bottom dropped out of her stomach. "Oh shit. I m-mean, you want me to… with my hand?"

"Is it disgusting? I thought I was a good girl, but I'm asking for something like-"

"No way! Hey, you are good — you're _so_ good, okay?" Her hand drifted up to pet along the side of Yukiko's head, and she leaned into the touch as if starving for it. "I'm just… surprised! Like, I never thought we'd both… y'know?"

Her cheeks were still rosy, but at least she could smile now. "I know. Goodness, this is all so new, a-and I keep expecting you to react how I would have reacted to the same thing. Before… yesterday."

"Yeah. Me, too, even though I… th-the porn."

"You still have to show me some of it," she chuckled while petting down to Chie's ass. When its owner froze in place, she asked, "Is this too much?"

"NO! I m-mean, um, no, it's fine. Just new." She flexed the muscles under Yukiko's fingertips and earned a little gasp from her.

"It's so strong!"

Laughing, she whispered, "I work out."

"Well… y-yes, I know. And you train all the time." Another flex, and she wound up humming her obvious interest. "I think… I like that. Do it again." She did. "Ah!"

"Feels really good," Chie admitted, biting her lip as she shifted her hips under the touch. When the fingers moved down and then back up again, underneath the fabric this time, she shivered and closed her eyes. "Yuki-chan…"

For a few seconds, nothing was said. The words wouldn't have been good enough, anyway; they knew what they wanted to say but not how to say it. And the sentiment would have been redundant in a lot of areas. Gooseflesh sprang into being as she felt those delicate fingertips ghosting over the cheek, down to her thigh and back up again. Another few strokes, and they began to move around to her hip.

"I thought you wanted me to go first," Chie laughed breathily, both excited and terrified of Yukiko going further.

"I did. But then you acted so…" She shrugged her shoulder, unable to come up with an end to that thought. "Do you want me to stop?"

"N-nah. Crazy as it is… I really do want you to keep going. I-if you want."

Instead of responding with words, Yukiko moved her fingers further around, sliding through Chie's thatch of fur. Even just that prompted a gasp and a groan of need from her that she felt so beyond embarrassed at hearing that come from her own throat. She hadn't even been touched yet! This was just foreplay!

 _This was foreplay._ All at once, the thought smacked her full force: she was about to lose her virginity. To a woman! Her best friend!

"O-okay," Yukiko warned her in a soft, anxious tone. Apparently, she was thinking along the same lines. "This is it, I'm… I'm going further if you're ready."

"Yes." Licking her lips, Chie widened her stance, and even though her pulse was thundering in her ears and her stomach was tied in knots, she smiled down at her friend and whispered, "I want it. Want you to be the one, I… can't imagine it being anybody else."

Nodding firmly, as if steeling her determination before riding into battle, Yukiko allowed her fingers to press a little further down…

And pleasure exploded within Chie. It was so blinding that for a few seconds, she couldn't fully connect it to the point of contact. Where was she, and what had she been doing up until now? As the moment slowly filtered back to her, she saw a concerned Yukiko gazing up at her, as if desperately hoping she wasn't making a huge mistake, wasn't hurting her best friend by trying something she had absolutely no experience with.

"Yuki-chan… mhhh…"

That seemed to reassure her somewhat. With a whispered "Chie", she started in a little more firmly, moving the fingers instead of just pressing them against damp flesh as she had been. Her first instinct was to pull away hard, but she fought that off and listened to the second one — which begged for more of this, to push her hips down into the waiting fingers as she gasped out in sheer ecstasy.

"Am I doing this right?" Yukiko asked a minute or two later, still teasing up and down.

"How should I know?! It feels pretty… oh GOD, nnhh! Yes!"

"Chie!" she gasped in mingling alarm and shock. "Th-that sounds so obscene!"

"What we're doing is obscene, so I th-think it's… it's fine!" Her lips pushed down against Yukiko's cheek as she rolled her hips into the contact over and over. "Oh shit… this was what I've been missing out on?"

The young innkeeper-in-training was flushed scarlet, and could barely whisper, "It's good? Really? You like it when I do this? Because… I like doing it for you."

"You do?!"

"Yes! If I can make you feel good, then there's nothing else I would rather be doing." Her fingers became even bolder, firmer, making sure to caress every last inch of Chie's aching need. "And the way you sound…"

A little worried, she asked, "God, is it weird? Do I sound stupid?"

"No. You sound really… _hot."_

"What?!" Taken aback, she covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, even as the rest of her body was concentrating on riding that beautifully punishing hand.

"Don't cover that up; I love hearing you." Chie lowered the hand, beginning to moan. Yukiko's smile was fragile but wide. "Wow… I can't believe I can help you feel like this…"

After that, Chie lost track of time again. Yukiko's hand only seemed to grow more and more sure of itself, to find new ways to pleasure her as she practiced. And she became aware of something else: the heat was beginning to build. Somehow, she had expected to simply enjoy this level until the activity stopped, but it was growing hotter and hotter with each passing second. And she knew eventually, if they didn't stop, according to everything she had heard…

"Yuki! I… nnhh, I'm gonna… oh my GOD!"

"You're gonna what?" Clearly afraid, her eyes jerked up to her friend's. "What's wrong?"

Laughing weakly, she slammed her hips down with more and more force to compensate for Yukiko's hand stilling as she told her, "Nothing! Mmhh… just d-don't stop! No matter what! Okay?!"

"O-okay!" she breathed, nodding fervently as if this was some kind of official battle command. And she seemed to take her actions just as seriously; the fingers pushed in almost too hard, but it only seemed to wring more pleasure from her already-tortured flesh.

And then Chie came. Which is to say, she knew that this blinding surge of pleasure that almost knocked her off her hands and knees _had_ to be what she saw happen at the end of that video; it couldn't be anything else. Her entire frame shook hard from the sheer force of it, and she distantly felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes. It was an overwhelming religious experience for which she was ill-prepared.

Once she was desperately sucking in breath after breath, head braced against Yukiko's shoulder, the fingers stilled and simply held against her aching warmth. "I… know you said to keep going, n-no matter what, but… it felt like… sh-should I do more?"

"Nhhh… I…" Her throat was so dry now. Was that normal? After a few more tries, she coughed, swallowed, and managed to rasp, "Just… stay… here…"

Yukiko nodded and held her position. The other hand came up and hesitantly started to caress her best friend's back, and when she only got a hum of contentment in response the petting became more firm and certain, soothing up to her hair and then back down. They remained that way until Chie recovered enough to say more.

"Whoa. That was incredible!"

Yukiko's bashful smile was something she could hear rather than see at the moment. "Y-yeah? It was? Then I'm glad I could help you."

"You… mmm, it still feels good…" She shifted her hips against the hand, then sighed. "Don't, um, don't start going again, but like, just hold still? I wanna try something."

"Okay…" And she did as Chie ground against the fingers. "You're so wet… i-is this normal? And I've never touched one of these really, except when I'm washing, but it's… kind of nice. Soft and slick, and… they move more than… I expected…"

Chie shivered when she felt her lower lips being pushed from side to side. "O-ohhhhh, yeah… that's- Yukiko, you really never did this before? You swear?"

"I swear. Not even on myself."

"Wow…" She let out a shaky laugh as she shifted her hips in the opposite direction the fingers moved, to add more sensation. "We could have been doing this for years… can you imagine? Three or four years ago, just going crazy on each other?"

That seemed to alarm her friend. "But we were only children! They don't do these things!"

"Maybe not… at least a year ago, then. That would have been awesome!" Then she drew back, peering down into Yukiko's eyes. "Okay, your turn!"

"Huh?! Oh, but… I thought you were doing more, that you were still enjoying-"

"I am, yeah. But I wanna make you feel this good now; we can worry about taking care of me again some other time." Expression beyond eager, she grinned down at her and waited for her answer.

"Well, I…" She gulped hard and looked away. "I might not feel as good as… you did to me, I'm not… I don't know. But if you're sure you want to try…"

Chie wasted no time in nodding, then kissing her friend delicately on the lips. It didn't last long but was sweet enough that they both sighed afterward. "Yes. I totally want to. Even if you feel like a slimy slug down there-"

"HEY!"

"-I would still want to touch. Because it's Yukiko, y'know?"

Still pursing her lips at the slug comparison, she rolled her eyes before smiling reluctantly. "Well… I suppose that is _almost_ sweet. But I don't know what you want me to… am I supposed to roll over on top of you? Or just stay down here?"

"Stay there. I think that will be easier on you, like, if you don't have to worry about holding yourself up like I just did."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking about that when we got started — that must have been so difficult!" But then Chie was backing up, kneeling over Yukiko's thighs — and displaying a slight dark spot in the crotch of her own boy shorts. "Oh… oh, it's time, isn't it?"

"Yeah. If you want it to be. But if you don't-"

However, Yukiko was already shaking her head. "No, no, I do. I'm really scared, and nervous, and… I'm not sure if I'm ready. But I know I'm ready for it to be _you._ "

Her best friend smiled softly as she leaned down to kiss her hip. "No wonder your shadow wanted to find her Prince Charming so bad. You're such a romantic. Like, how has nobody swept you off your feet before?"

"Maybe I was waiting for the right Prince. And now I have her." Then she whispered, "Was that romantic, too?"

"Definitely. And you're stalling."

"Maybe I…"

But the lips were moving to push into the center of the soft cotton panties a second later, cutting off further maybes. Red; they suited Yukiko perfectly. As did the vaguely sweet scent rolling outward from where Chie had kissed. She wanted so much more… and said scent seemed to at least suggest Yukiko wanted it, too. Even without her words.

"I was right. Red looks _great_ on you."

The only response was a whimper, which got louder when Chie kissed again. She should have known; Yukiko was rather shy under most circumstances. Why should this one be any different — especially when it was much more anxiety-inducing? The junior hostess didn't even have the luxury of already having enjoyed an orgasm before opening herself up to letting someone else assist.

Every kiss made her writhe. Chie couldn't help kissing more in response, breathing in the intoxicating aroma. It didn't take her long to edge the pretty fabric aside and start kissing her directly — the little gasp of shock sending fresh need down between her own thighs. She had thought it might be disgusting, kissing another woman there… but it wasn't much different from normal kissing. Wetter, slicker… and the scent, of course. But not much different otherwise.

"Chie!" she finally panted as the hips began to roll up and against her mouth a little more. Seeking out the pleasure instead of merely letting it assail her. "Yes! Mmmhh… m-my prince…"

 _Oh._ She was really going to call her that now? It definitely didn't do anything to reduce her own reviving urges. At least those made it easier to keep going, to push her tongue in harder with every pass up from the bottom of her perfectly-formed petals to the pink hood above them. Her hand drifted up to caress along them as she took a break to breathe. How they shifted so easily…

"You're beautiful."

"N-no, don't," she begged as she gasped for breath. "Don't look s-so much…"

"Why not? You're really hot."

"But it's dirty… I'm dirty, you shouldn't… shouldn't l-look!"

That embarrassment should have made her concerned for her friend. However… they both knew their feelings. Understood them very clearly after their shadows made delusions impossible to entertain. Now she knew Yukiko was just worried she would offend her with her body, not that she actually wanted her to look away; reassurance was in order, not surrender.

"I _gotta_ look," she countered, kissing the petals again. "You're so pretty, so sweet… down here. So wet for me, huh?"

"Nhh! Don't!" Her thighs twitched as if to close, but stayed open in the end. "I didn't m-mean to be wet!"

Sliding her tongue over the folds, listening to the squeal of joy, Chie paused to lick her lips afterward before she responded. "I know. You can't help it; just like I can't help kissing you when I'm this close. It's okay that you're dripping for me to touch you."

This time, her best friend didn't respond right away. A quick glance upward showed a ruddy face full of lust, with just the tiniest hint of uncertainty. She knew why; she had become bolder. In the pit of her stomach, she was still terrified of making her upset, but being able to tell that she was turning Yukiko on made it possible for her to ignore that fear. To be the confident prince that made her princess a complete mess who needed her touch.

She had learned so much from her shadow. Even if she was an asshole.

"Yuki," she groaned before going back to work on her throbbing clit, tongue sliding around it over and over. Harder, faster — more with her fingers below. She didn't quite penetrate her, because they hadn't talked about that yet, but everything else seemed to be fair game. Her own hips were twitching in the air by now, as if hoping someone would slide in from behind and fulfil her desires a second time while she worked on her best friend.

_Girlfriend?_

"Chie! I… I think something is…"

"Hmmhh?"

"I think it's my turn! Y-you're going to make me… finish!"

"Is that what you want?" she asked as she finally pulled off, fingers doing all of the work now. "You want me to make you come?"

"Y-yes! Please?"

Chie had been about to do it. To just keep going, listen to this beautiful woman cry out in ecstasy. But hearing 'please' gave her pause. For a second, she couldn't figure out why… but then realised what she wanted. Purely because of what Other-Chie had done, she had a feeling she knew how to make this even better. For both of them.

"Please _what?"_

"Huh?"

"Say it. I want to hear you say what it is you want."

Eyes wide as dinner plates, Yukiko covered her face with her hands for a moment. Ashamed, trying to shield that feeling from view. "I… I want you to do it!"

"Do what?"

"Chie! Wh-what are you asking me? I want… you to finish me?" That much earned her a pussy-kiss, at least. "A-ah! Will you finish me?"

"Mmm, beg your prince for it," she purred, still kissing at least. But not quite going back to work.

"Beg?! Do you… a-am I not…" Swallowing, she looked away. "Do you… _like_ hearing me beg?"

"It's what I want. To hear how bad you need me." Then she cleared her throat and hastily corrected, "It. How bad you need _it."_

Too late. Her slip-up made Yukiko smile briefly, eyes watery and chest heaving as her hips began to squirm, desperate to have something between them again. But when she spoke, she was all moans and desperation, just as her sporty girlfriend wanted. "Chie! My Prince, I need you to- _nnhhh!_ -to touch me! I- I'm _begging_ to feel your mouth on me, for you to make me… climax! Will you please?"

The "holy shit" slipped out before she could catch herself. She just hadn't been expecting Yukiko to be so good at it on the first try! Then she kissed her a little harder on the clit, hoping to sweep that under the rug.

It worked like a charm. Instead of teasing her, Yukiko fell deep into the throes of moaning and back arches, hands and feet clenching at the tatami in an attempt to anchor herself. She came with so much force she almost seemed to float above the floor, head thrown all the way back as she screamed Chie's name.

What Chie wasn't prepared for was the slight push of warm fluid against her mouth. She let out an "MM!" but managed to keep from jerking away or other overreactions. It was too thick, and almost made her sick, but she also knew this was the precious proof that her best friend had orgasmed; she couldn't let it go to waste in good conscience. Therefore, she didn't.

"Ohhhh," Yukiko was groaning while Chie still swallowed. "Oh, wow… you… you felt so amazing!"

"Mmmmhh…"

"Can you come up here? I… oh, now I feel empty… is that strange?"

Her prince obeyed. After only a few seconds to breathe, she climbed up along the futon until they were flopped down on their sides, facing each other and feeling their legs overlapping below. It was the closest to another human being Chie had ever felt in her life.

"Wow."

"Y-yeah. Yuki-chan… I, uh…"

Her contented smile didn't vanish, but there was a slight crease between her brow. "What is it?"

"Sorry. About, um… I kinda talked to you funny. At the end there. It seemed like you were into it, but like, I also felt weird telling you to tell me something, or… whatever…"

"Oh, that." She bit her lip for a moment, smiling shyly. "It was _really_ hot."

"HUH?!"

"Shhh! D-don't make me say it again!"

Leaning up on her elbow slightly, she stared down at the embarrassed innkeeper. "You liked that? Really?! But I was acting like you were my… I dunno! Shadow-Yuki instead of Real-Yuki!"

"I can't explain it," she breathed, not meeting Chie's eyes. "It felt… _right._ The way you did it, anyway. And the way you said it was so you could know how much I need you… well, you already said your shadow was trying to convince you that I needed you to be confident, and you needed me to feel like you had purpose."

"R-right," Chie managed nervously. "Which was all bullshit." But her friend shook her head. "It wasn't?"

"We have to accept our inner selves, remember? I… might not be as bad as Other-Me, but I do crave that attention from you. That protection, a-and… I think…" A quick swallow, and her voice grew quieter, "When you confront the bullies and boys who won't take 'no' for an answer, say things like 'I'm gonna leave footprints all over your face', it gives me goosebumps!"

That made her chuckle, relaxing very slightly. "Why? You want it to be your face instead?"

"Um… no?"

But that didn't sound certain at all. She had only been joking around! Chie blinked a couple of times before asking, "Do you… want me to beat you up?"

"No, no, don't be silly. But… you standing over me… _on_ me, telling me that I'm all yours… sort of like Other-Chie did…"

"Oh. Wow, I- th-that doesn't sound like it's okay…" On the other hand, the look Yukiko was giving her made her want to try. To satisfy both their curiosity. And it looked like her raven-haired companion wasn't quite through.

"Please, Chie-sama?" she begged, brows lifting as she pleaded. "Step on me?"

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: NSFW. (If you hadn't noticed, haha)

"STEP on you?!"

Yukiko nodded, rolling up to bow low, hands elegantly resting on the floor in front of her as her forehead touched just behind them. "It would give me great honour to be walked upon by you, my Prince."

This was insane. Chie knew it was somehow all tied up in the whole ownership fantasy — that their shadows had conspired to make her the owner and Yukiko the property. Something neither of them had ever consciously pursued, considered, anticipated… yet here they were, confronting it outside of the Midnight Channel. In the real world. And that felt even crazier than there being a Midnight Channel in the first place.

"Okay," she whispered, pushing to her knees and swallowing hard as she watched the elegant girl remain in her low bow. As if worshipping her. "Can I try it, a-and if you don't like it, at least we'll know? But you better promise to tell me if you don't like it!"

"Yes, my Prince," Yuki whispered. After a moment, she looked up at the clearly-flustered tomboy. "I-is… this too strange? I don't even understand why… I want you to…"

"Well, it's strange, but not _too_ strange. I mean, if you're going to like it, then hey, I wanna make you happy! I just… am worried about, um, hurting you, I guess. Or making you feel bad."

Yukiko's flawless features easily flowed into a serene smile. "You won't hurt me. I know — I _trust_ that."

"Oh. Well, that's…" Some would-be Dom she was, with her cheeks lighting up like fireworks.

"Do you not want to step on me?" she finally asked. "Y-you don't have to. It was just an idea."

"N-no, it's cool. We can…"

Chie finally stood up, towering over her half-dressed friend. Watching her peer up at her as she laid on her back, perfect little pink lips slightly parted. This was deranged. Just because their shadows had revealed the dark desires in their hearts didn't mean they should be _giving in_ to them. Did it? Weren't they supposed to be becoming better versions of themselves?

"So… like… step on you where? Your head, face? Boob?"

Yukiko giggled softly as her bare shoulders shrugged. "'Boob'. I don't know, either. This is all new to me."

"You say that like I'm some pro."

"Well… you _are_ the one who's seen those videos."

"None of them involved _this!"_ Still, she raised her leg, trying to figure out where to land. In the end, she opted for somewhere fairly neutral: Yukiko's shoulder. "This… is it okay?"

"It's fine," she promised her, cheeks still rosy from all their activities. When Chie still looked uncomfortable, she tilted her head over to kiss her toes. "I mean it. You aren't even hurting me yet."

Her voice was a little hoarse when she managed, "Yet?"

"Well… I expected it to hurt. Even if you aren't whipping me or… or whatever your shadow was doing."

This was difficult for Chie. On the one hand, it was a little hot, but on the other hand the overwhelming majority of her personality didn't like that she was _subjugating_ her best friend. Normally, she would listen to that more, but Yukiko was encouraging her to indulge that quieter, more sinister desire. Might as well test it out just once.

"Really?" Licking her lips in a vain attempt to dispel her nerves, she gradually lifted her foot to press it against Yukiko's lips. "So you… still want me to leave footprints all over your face?"

The little innkeeper flushed a darker shade, breath hitching. She held completely still for a moment before saying in a muffled tone, "Yes, my Prince."

Heat shot straight to her core — even as a slight thrill tingled its way up her leg, since the breath on her foot tickled very slightly. This was really happening, wasn't it? Against all odds, she was putting her best friend in her place. She leaned a little harder against that leg, just to give it the tiniest bit of impression of being stomped on — without running the risk of hurting her for real, of course.

"Then show me. Sh-show me how much you like it when I step on you."

Despite the nerves she was clearly displaying, Yukiko did as she was asked. Her lips pushed up into the toes, eyes closing as she paid homage to the new Master she had just found. Chie squirmed, toes flexing, and tried hard to keep her balance despite this precarious position. This was insane — she really didn't mind kissing her stinky foot?!

"Is that good, my Prince?"

"Y-yes," she hastily stammered, moving to stand above her. So far it was exciting, but she knew she would probably laugh if it kept up because of being ticklish, and might lose her balance. "Now I want you on your hands and knees."

Completely obedient, she flipped over and got into position. Chie could see just how soaking wet she was, since the dark spot on her panties was impossible to miss from that angle. Her own desires began to brew afresh, and she was tempted to drop down and kiss everything she saw… but she tried to push that temptation down. Save it for another time. Possibly only a few minutes into the future.

"Like this?"

 _Gulp._ "Yes. Arch your back a little." Once she had, she reached down to grab a generous handful of that perky ass.

"A-ah!" Yukiko gasped out, back arching even more as her heat spiked. Amazing that they had both already got off but this neophyte domination play was bringing their desire back so effortlessly. Maybe their shadows were onto something.

"Such a bad little girl you are. You want your prince this much but never said anything? Shame on you!" The words still felt foreign on her tongue but she was doing her best. "We're gonna have to work on that."

Whimpering hard enough to be audible, she gasped out, "Y-yes, Prince! I'm sorry!"

"Oh yeah? You're _sorry?_ Not good enough!" Her hand reared back…

And she hesitated. This was different; everything so far had either been loving or merely playful. Was she truly prepared to cause her best friend pain, no matter how brief?

"Chie?" Yukiko whispered.

"Huh?"

"Y-you don't have to keep going. I know this is… different, and we're both really new to any of it. So I'm not going to be upset if you-"

"No, no, I can do it," she whispered back. "Sorry." Then she cleared her throat and said louder, almost theatrically, "You ready for your punishment, you little… butt?!"

Seemingly unable to help it, her sub giggled at that would-be insult. "Oh no, don't do it, my Prince! Please, I'll be good!"

Chie really saw no other way to put an end to her own mortification and Yukiko's amusement but to deliver a swift smack to her inviting cheeks. She got the most delightful _squeak_ for her efforts. How was it this much fun to punish her best friend? Maybe she really was sick. Maybe the darkness had a lot stronger of a hold on her heart than she wanted to admit.

Not that said best friend seemed to mind. At all. Even a little. Her hips squirmed from side to side, almost as if begging for another hit. So she got one. "AH! Chie!"

"Who?"

"O-oh I- AIYEE!" Another spanking had interrupted her apology. "I'm sorry, my Prince! I'm sorry! Mmhhh, please, be gentle!"

"I thought you didn't _want_ me to be… _gentle!"_

That spanking made Yukiko moan a little louder. Now she was starting to worry about the noise level; what if someone heard? They would definitely be in trouble, even if they didn't disgust whichever of the staff came running to check on them. She decided she had better be a little bit more careful…

What on Earth was she saying?! This was a terrible thing to be doing to her best friend. Even if she could no longer pretend the desire to treat her this way wasn't there, and the reciprocal desire in Yukiko, it didn't make it right. Maybe using the noise levels as an excuse to stop was for the best.

"Prince?" Her hips squirmed a little as she looked over her shoulder at Chie. "Is… everything all right?"

"O-oh, I'm… yeah. Totally fine. I was just thinking… should… I call my parents? Let them know I'm okay? And you probably want to go take a bath in the hot springs, or…"

Her best friend turned to look at her properly, a frown etched in her fair features. "Hey. Did you think you were really hurting me just now?" She got no response other than flustered squirming, and her smile clearly communicated she thought she was right. "You weren't. I promise you I am just fine."

"But I was… this is really fucked up. Isn't it? I feel like I should be arrested for this kind of thing. You're so gorgeous and perfect, why would I ever wanna even _risk_ hurting you for real?"

"Chie…" It only took a few seconds for her arms to be around the tomboy, nestling her gentle face into the crook of her neck. "We should definitely stop."

"No, c'mon. If you want to do-"

"No," she repeated a little more firmly. "Let's both go make use of the hot spring. Okay? And we can just relax and talk about these things, because… we have all the time in the world. There isn't any rush."

Feeling as stupid as she was grateful, she clung back to her best friend with a heavy sigh. "Okay. And I mean… y-yeah."

"We're both virgins — well, we were until today. Right? I think it's alright for us to have to learn our limits as we go. I'm flying just as blind as you are."

"Guess… that's true…" Finally, she began to relax and leaned into the embrace. "Yuki-chan, how are you so great? Like, seriously."

She was so close that Chie could feel the little chuckle up against her own chest. That made her heart skip over a beat. What a ridiculous crush this already was; they really were made for each other. "I'm not. Just trying my best to be your little bitch."

"WHAT?!"

"W-well," Yukiko amended as she dipped her head in alarm, "I… that's what your shadow called me. And since mine was wearing a collar…"

"Oh. But we don't have to do that! Like, that's crazy! You're not a dog, I don't want you to be a dog, either!"

Her tone was totally reasonable. "Don't you? I mean, somewhere in your heart?"

"I…" Cheeks warming, she slammed her eyes shut. "Yes. But it's more like… I guess I saw you that way because you seemed dependent on me. But that was just my fucked-up way of thinking about it, y'know? Not like, you actually _are_ that way, or that it's what I want. Is… am I making any sense?"

"Well my shadow sure seemed to enjoy being on yours' leash," she said with a small, sly smile. Making Chie gulp again. "But we don't have to do that — right away, or ever."

Letting out a sigh of relief, she held onto Yukiko for support. "Good. No offense, but I'm not ready to…"

"Y-yeah," she confirmed with a giggle. "You're not, I can tell. There's nothing wrong with taking our time, like I said."

"Yeah!" Laughing louder and more boisterously, she scratched the back of her neck. "So um, let's hit the bath, and we can figure ourselves out more later, right?"

Nodding with a patient, excited smile as she retrieved her yukata, she said, "Absolutely, my Prince."

~ o ~

They enjoyed a late lunch before retiring to the baths. Yukiko took a staffer aside as they entered, speaking quietly to her while Chie glanced over curiously. But she decided to leave her to it; probably Amagi Inn business that was none of hers. So she finished undressing and quickly rinsed off, then left her towel by the edge of the spring as she began to edge into the roiling hot water.

"Oooh! AH! Mmm, God it hurts so good…" Closing her eyes, she began to sink down like a melting icicle, totally at peace with the world. The scent of sulfur in the air was a small price to pay for the restorative dip.

It was another few minutes before she heard steps — bare feet moving across the stones from the wooden deck. Chie opened her eyes to see Yukiko had a towel around her body and another folded atop her head, and looked perfectly serene in her surroundings. This was her home, after all.

"Ahhh, the heat must be getting to me," Chie said in a voice convincingly like a random guy. "A vision of a goddess appears!"

Yukiko let out a "pfff" as she dropped her body-towel to one side and slowly began to slide into the water. She barely had to ooh and ahh; she had probably bathed in it several times a week for her entire life. "Oh, Chie… that does feel nice to hear, but you don't have to keep doing that."

"Doing what? Being honest?" As Yukiko laughed, she leaned back to relax again. "You really are super pretty. I'm not just buttering you up; I always thought that. Guess I just didn't realise I thought about it as much as I did. Pretty dumb, huh?"

"Not when I'm in the same boat," she countered smoothly as she pressed in close to Chie's side, wrapping her arms around one of hers. She shivered at the sensation of a nipple sliding over her skin but suppressed any further comment.

"Mmmm, I guess… that's true."

"So. You wanted to talk about how spanking me made you feel?"

Dipping her head, she muttered under her breath, "N-not unless I have to…" But the pointed look from Yukiko made her sigh. "Okay. So… like, it was really hot, but it also made me want to protect you. From me! Isn't that crazy?!"

"Not at all," she whispered as she pressed her lips into Chie's warm cheek, causing the latter to smile and lean into the contact. Yukiko giggled quietly. "I think it's very sweet. But I also know a part of you wants to punish me, and a part of me wants to be punished. So…"

"So what? We just live with it because I'm a big chicken?"

"NO!" They both laughed a little. "Not a chicken. You're my brave hero."

That line made Chie grin much more giddily, even if she felt like her face was on fire. "N-nah. You're just too important to the world not to save."

"The world, psh. I highly doubt anyone would know I was gone, except for my family and friends."

"Are you kidding? You're famous!" At her friend's dubious look, she amended, "Well, you were already Inaba-famous, and now you've been on the news and everybody knows you're smokin' hot. So like, pretty famous now, right?"

"I suppose," she whispered shyly, before clearing her throat. "But you're trying to distract me. Perhaps we should do some research."

"Research? On whether you're smokin' hot?"

With a little smirk, she muttered, "I have a feeling you can do that all on your own. No, I meant into you punishing me."

"OH! Oh, _that._ Well, u-um…" She would have tugged at her collar if she had one. "I mean, how would you even do that? Looking at porn again? I would feel pretty weird watching it with you. Hell, I'd feel weird watching it by myself again!"

"Other-Chie had a whip, too…"

That silenced her friend for a few seconds. She kicked her feet, watching them bounce lazily in the murky water. Then she whispered, "I don't want that."

"You obviously do."

"No… it's just the kinkiest thing I've ever heard of. I think our shadows kind of… take little pieces of stuff we want, and blow them up as big as they possibly can. To get us to freak out. Like, do you honestly want to be my dog, wearing a damn collar?"

No reply. Chie slowly turned to look down at her blushing friend.

"There are worse fates," she finally whispered.

"Yuki-chan…?"

"It would mean I really do belong to you. It should sound degrading, but it's _you._ That is what I want, even if a collar and leash is a bit literal."

Gulping, she rubbed up and down Yukiko's back for a moment as she pondered the ramifications. Her friend wanted a collar? Or no — she wouldn't _mind_ a collar, because what she wanted was what it represented. That wasn't quite the same thing but was close enough that she still felt surprised.

"So…" She swallowed hard. "If I _did_ get you a collar… would you react the way your shadow did?" The way Yukiko bit her lip and tried not to grin said it all. "Whoa…"

"Is that so bad? Maybe it's a little extreme…"

"No! No, it's cool, just like… a really big engagement ring, or something! R-right? One that goes around your neck instead! Y-yeah!"

Yukiko kissed the corner of her mouth. "You're adorable when you're flustered." When Chie only turned her head slightly, she repeated the action more firmly against her lips. "My reluctant Prince."

"Shut up already," she grumbled, even if she was smiling. They embraced tightly for a moment, relaxing and letting the heat from the springs penetrate their bones. "Mmm… I'm still really shocked over here. My best friend is my… can I say… is the word 'girlfriend' right?"

"Oh. I guess I haven't thought about that part yet." Eyes wide, she looked up at her curiously. "Is that what you want to call me?"

"I, uh, I think so? I don't know…" Yukiko didn't push. Eventually, Chie whispered, "Yeah."

All smiles, she whispered, "And you can still just be my Prince. I think I like that better than 'girlfriend' for you… and you sure aren't my _boy_ friend."

"Thank you," she sighed in obvious relief. "I hear plenty of kids saying I'm too much like a boy, so like, I'm glad you're not trying to put me in that box, too."

"Does it bother you that much? Everyone calling you a boy."

Chie sighed, nuzzling the top of Yukiko's head — careful not to dislodge her towel. "At first, it was kinda cool, almost. Like they were saying I was strong because I know martial arts, and am no pushover. But then it was like… I don't want to actually be a boy, I want to be a strong girl. Y'know? So what they say gets to me sometimes. My shadow saw that, kept bringing up how I'm not very girly and I'm jealous of how cute and feminine you are."

"Hmph," Yukiko sighed through her nostrils, staring out across the gently bubbling water. "Then that was very rude of your shadow. Of course, she seemed to be rude most of the time…"

"Mm, you ain't lying." Her hands began to rub up and down her arms, pulling her even closer. "You feel really good."

"Do I?" When Chie nodded, she smiled and melted into the embrace. "I've been waiting for a long time for someone to say that to me."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Just because I didn't expect it to be you didn't mean my shadow wasn't right, as well: I wanted a Prince to dote on me. To make me feel special."

The tomboy thought about that for a moment, leaning back against the rocks with her junior innkeeper in her arms. They really could have collided together like this at any time. How backwards was their society that such a love was discouraged, or looked down upon? Perhaps it wasn't met with so much hatred as it was in the west but it was still unfortunate. There were probably tons of couples that were equally unlucky — maybe even at their school.

"Then I'm gonna say it to you every day for the rest of your life."

Giggling, Yukiko lightly swatted her forearm. "Stop."

"Why? Why stop? I mean it."

"Stop because… it sounds… too good to be true. But I'll get used to this eventually, my Prince."

Then she surprised her by rolling over and straddling her lap, sliding her arms around Chie's shoulders. She only had time to blink before she was being kissed soundly by a delicate angel. Her mind went blank, her heart thudding hard in her chest as she wrapped her arms tightly around her and held her as close as was humanly possible, eyes closing to let the moment surround her rather than slip past like so many others.

A little at a time, she began to notice their hips were moving — a natural reaction. She broke the kiss to pant quietly, "I guess… if I had a dick, this would be leading to… something else."

"Y-yes, I… I suppose… that's true." She snickered. "And you just said you _didn't_ want to be a boy."

"Well, I don't! But like, it would make at least one thing easier…"

"Important things don't always come easily, Prince. Now… do you want something more from me?"

"Oh… well…" Her hands slid down and began to knead Yukiko's ass cheeks. Their owner gasped, posture going rigid. "I could think of a few things."

"Nh! Chie, that's indecent!"

Dipping her head, she whispered, "Sorry! I was just trying to play with you, I don't… know what I'm doing."

"No, no, I'm sorry. It was… an instinct." Drawing back slightly, she tucked a wet strand behind her ear, then caught her towel as it began to slip off into the water. She seemed to decide its perch was precarious since they would be moving a lot more, and instead tossed it onto the nearby rocks. "I have been taught to never be immodest, you know. That's why my shadow… well, she was so…"

"Slutty?"

"Not my choice of words," she hedged, cheeks warming. "But yes. I suppose I've always wanted to be less inhibited." Her smile was tentative, but almost a little _proud_ of itself. "I think I'm making great strides today. Don't you?"

God that smile was adorable. "Y-yeah, of course. You're so hot… and _being_ so hot. Like, are you sure we're not about to get caught? I don't wanna randomly get you in trouble, or… like… force you to let everybody know _how we are_ now."

"Oh? And… how _are_ we?" Her eyebrow arched bemusedly.

"Y'know! Like…" After a moment, she pouted and glared. "You're trying to give me shit, but you're not any more used to the idea than I am, you jerk!"

Giggling, she nuzzled their noses together. "Okay, okay. _Yuri._ But you're right… I couldn't say it in front of anyone else. Oh — don't worry about intruders, I asked the staff to ensure we would have privacy."

"You did?! Really? Wow…" As Yukiko hugged her tighter, she shook her head. "You think of everything. Man, I wish I was smart like you."

"Chie-chan… I keep telling you, don't I? You are _not_ stupid; you just don't apply yourself in your schoolwork. But if you did, you would be getting grades just as good as mine. Not saying you have to," she headed off the protests. "But you might want to consider studying with me more often. We'll spend more time together, and your grades will be better, and… then whatever your dream is, you can achieve it with the right education."

"Wow, okay, _Mom,_ " she goaded, poking her in the ribs. Instantly she squealed and tried to squirm away. "What? That's funny? You think it's funny, huh?!"

Yukiko squealed out "STOOOPAHAHAHAHA!" as she flailed around in the water. Which only made Chie want to poke her even more.

"You can't handle a little of this? Huh?"

"NOOOOHOHOHAHAHAHA!" she cackled, thrashing around and frothing the water with her limbs. Chie couldn't help continuing to punish her little ribs, laughing herself now. "CHIE!"

"Yeeeeeeeeaahh?"

Completely breathless now, she swatted her arm. "Cut that OUAAAHAHA! I can't- I can't breathe!"

Relenting, Chie simply embraced her, feeling that warmth sink into her bones — and not just from the water. This was a level of closeness, of complete emotional openness, that she had always wanted from Yukiko. She simply didn't have the language to ask for it. Maybe Yukiko didn't, either, since she had been raised to never inconvenience anyone and pushing the boundaries of their friendship definitely seemed to fit that category. Luckily, their shadows had conspired to push them together.

"I feel super lucky."

"Hm?" asked a still-breathless Yukiko.

"Uh… to have you, and like… be together. That stuff."

"Aww, such a poet."

Dipping her head, she muttered, "You don't have to be mean. But like, seriously, I know it's probably messed up to be grateful to our shadows, cuz like, they pretty much tried to kill us. Or would have, if we rejected them, but like… maybe that's…"

"Maybe it's what?"

"Maybe that part's not so weird. Like… it hurts to shut out part of yourself."

Yukiko nodded thoughtfully as she caressed up and down her lover's ribcage. "I would tend to agree. They did seem so grateful when we relented and stopped trying to argue against their being part of us."

"Right? And like, now I can feel them. Well, mine, anyway."

"The fighting spirit? Yes… it's like…" Pressing a hand to the center of Chie's chest, and causing the heart lying underneath to skip over a beat, she whispered, "I can feel Konohana Sakuya inside of me, but she cannot be given form anymore. That doesn't mean she's gone, though."

"Yeah. Do you think it's because we're in the real world, and not in the TV?"

"Very likely. We might see them again if we return to that other world."

"Mm." Simply breathing for a moment, she then whispered, "I don't think I want to go back. It's dangerous there, and… I already rescued _my_ world. Got her right here."

Yukiko snickered softly. "What a line." Still, instead of goading her further, she left a light kiss on her lips. "But I feel the same, so perhaps I shouldn't tease."

"Yeah, cut that shit out. Just let me love you." She smirked a little before pushing her lips into Yukiko's again, humming with mingling interest… and relief. _They felt the same._ Maybe this whole situation wasn't so disastrous after all.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to me! Though this might be posted right AT midnight my time, so technically after my birthday. Also, there won't really be much smut this chapter; just coupley fluff and a hint of steaminess.

"Well, you two sure are snug as bugs in a rug."

Chie scowled over at Yosuke as they sat around on the school roof, ploughing their way through plastic bowls of instant miso ramen. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about this." He leaned way forward, headphones slipping around on his neck as he poked his chopsticks between her and Yukiko's arms. And touched both of them. "You've been glued at the hip all day!"

"We have not." Cheeks having taken on the vaguest of rosy tints, Yukiko pretended to find her ramen much more interesting as she daintily drew the noodles into her mouth. She did slurp, but it was somehow a polite slurp; Chie never knew how she did it, while she was over there making enough noise to tell the whole school what she was eating for lunch.

"I mean, do you think I'm dumb? Let me rephrase," he cut Chie off when she held up a finger to respond, taking a deep breath as well. "I'm _not_ dumb. I can see that something's different. Like, all day has been a chick clique, with me and Narukami all benched over here."

"I haven't felt 'benched'," Yu put in very mildly, though he had also been glancing at the two girls just as curiously.

Finally, Yukiko broke her silence, though she was still staring down into her lunch. "I think you're making a lot out of nothing, Hanamura-san. There's nothing wrong with two friends spending time together, especially after going through something so harrowing."

"'Hanamura-san'? Geez, it's like that, huh?" Yosuke sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Listen to Yuki-chan," Chie snapped. "Like, it's none of your business, anyway. But yeah, we're just hanging out! You think it's weird? For two girls to be friends?"

"No! But I don't think that's the only thing going on here." Squinting slightly, he pointed at Chie with his chopsticks again. "I think there's a _lot more_ than just 'gals being pals', y'know? Like, Class S-"

"God, here we go," she groaned with a huge roll of her eyes as she set her bowl aside. "You and your 'everything is dirty' brain, you pervert." She stood up and cracked her neck, then started rolling her arm around to loosen her shoulder. Immediately, he was throwing up both hands to ward her off.

"Wait, wait! Hey, I don't think there's any call for violence, exactly! C'mon, what's the big deal in me pointing out what it looks like?!"

"The 'big deal' is that you're trying to make something normal into some gross fantasy in your brain!"

"Hey, can you blame me? After what we saw in the TV… I mean, your shadows were _really_ into it…"

Instantly, he was being kicked down to sprawl out on his back by a very irate Chie. Limbs flailing everywhere, he tried to fend off the brown loafer that continued to descend upon his face and chest repeatedly for the next few seconds. "AH! CHIE! FOR CHRISSAKE, CUT IT OUT WILLYA?!"

"MAYBE QUIT BEING A GROSS PIG AND I WILL!"

While he was still trying to protect his face, Yu commented calmly, "The gross pig has a point. If shadows are part of who you are, it's not such a strange question to ask."

"Et tu, Yu?" Yukiko sighed, frowning down at her bowl. "Isn't it bad enough we had to be there while you two saw the other us… doing such things?"

"You say that like it wasn't the best show of my life!" Yosuke chuckled — earning him a fresh strike to the mouth with a rubber sole. "RGH! Okay, get off, I'm kinda done!"

Finally reclaiming her spot next to Yukiko, Chie grumbled, "Me too. Like, stop being so disgusting."

"Oh yeah?" He sighed and shook his head. "What a waste lesbians are."

While Yukiko's head began to sink lower, Chie's face burst a few capillaries as she snapped, "WHAT?! Okay — listen, you jackass! Y-you don't even know what you're- and what do you mean, a 'waste'?!"

"Like, that's two less girls for the rest of us," he continued to protest as he stirred his noodles. "Hard enough for some guys to get dates without some chicks pairing off with each other."

Chie took a deep breath to reply… but to her surprise, it was Yu who said, "I think that's ignorant. They should be able to date whoever they want."

"What?" Eyebrows sky high, he snapped, "Yu, bro… how can you stab me in the back like this?"

"Stop being dramatic. And I'm sure there will still be plenty of girls to ask out. Don't you have someone you're interested in? Anyone at all?"

"Risette," he sighed wistfully. When the other three were blinking at him in surprise for a few seconds, he cleared his throat. "I-I mean, that Ebihara is hot. But I dunno, I don't have any game."

"You really don't," Chie confirmed.

"Whoa, shots fired…"

"What do you expect, man? You treat girls like Pocky flavours, just trying to pick which one suits your mood today. Seriously, do you even care about how _they_ feel? Whether or not their personalities match yours? You just seem to care if they have big boobs and nice hair."

Taken aback, he finally set his ramen aside. "What the hell, Satonaka? I thought we were friends, and you're like, totally ripping me a new one here! What did I ever do to you?"

"For starters, you told me and Yukiko that we're 'too close' and a 'waste of space'."

"Hey, I never said 'waste of space'. Just like, a waste of two really gorgeous, available women."

"Lies! You have _never_ thought I was gorgeous."

"Oh. Good point." This time, she actually took her loafer off and threw it at his head. "WHOA! Hey, hey — I wanna live, I WANNA LIVE!"

~ o ~

Despite trying her best to focus on positive thoughts, Chie's blood was still boiling well after school let out for the day. She kicked a can down the quaint, lazy street toward the rest of Inaba, still grumbling about how chauvinistic he was and that they were better off not dealing with someone who didn't even see them as fellow humans.

"He isn't _that_ bad," Yukiko snickered. "He could use some work, but… you know he doesn't really believe those things."

"Yeah? Well I think he's _worse_ than we think!"

"How can he be worse than you think if you already think he's worse?"

"That's… well…" Pouting, she watched her footsteps for a while as they paced through the homey little downtown district. "Y-you know what I meant. Like, I know he's a boy, but so is Yu and at least he's halfway decent. There's no excuse!"

"Maybe not." They were quiet for a moment. "Um, do you want to stop by Souzai Daigaku? Grab a couple of croquettes?"

Chie knew what she was doing. Obviously this was a ploy to distract her from her ranting about their friend's misogynistic tendencies. And… it worked, but only because she knew Yukiko didn't like gossiping all that much and wanted to spare her. "For sure. I crave meat — oh, and a lemon soda."

"Okay," Yukiko chuckled as she slid her arm through Chie's. The action seemed to bring both of them to a sudden halt, and she blinked. "Oh. That's strange, I… I didn't mean to do that. But it felt very…"

"Natural," Chie supplied. After only a tiny hesitation, she raised a hand to rest on Yukiko's wrist, keeping her there. "It's cool. I don't think anybody's gonna pay attention… we probably won't, uh… be noticed…"

Nodding her agreement, they continued to walk arm in arm. Despite her confident words, Chie's heart was _racing._ Somebody was going to call them _yuri_ — make some kind of gay joke, or even just a simple catcall would be a fate worse than death. But maybe they wouldn't be seen at all.

They were.

"Ohhh, so pretty!"

The two looked around for a moment, trying to find the source of the compliment and figure out why it was even made. But nobody was closeby. Had they imagined it?

"Oh!" Yukiko breathed when she finally looked _down._

A small elementary school girl was standing in front of them, wide smile and brown pigtails radiating pure innocence. Her little pink dress was on over a white turtleneck. Chie found herself wanting to pick her up and put her on a shelf, she was so adorable.

"Awww, hello there!" she gushed with an equal grin.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The girl gave a little bow. "Are you two on a date? I didn't mean to stop you!"

"Wh-WHAT?!"

But Yukiko led with, "N-no, it's okay. But what did you think was pretty?"

"You! I mean, I've never seen a girl as pretty as you, ever — 'cept maybe Risette! But she's a star. Nobody as pretty as Risette would be in Inaba."

While she was still trying to recover her voice, Chie squatted down to ask, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm Nanako." Then she seemed to remember her manners and bowed. "N-nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she chuckled. "And you're right, this is the most beautiful woman in the whole world."

"Really?" she breathed in wonder — while Yukiko made flustered noises beside her.

"Yep! And we're really lucky to see her! They say she only appears to little girls who have been really good this year."

While Nanako was looking completely enthralled, Yukiko tutted, "Don't fill that poor girl's head with nonsense!" But she was blushing a bright red to match her sweater.

"Sorry," Chie laughed, though she didn't sound especially sincere about her apology, before she turned to pet the little girl on the head. "It was nice meeting you, but we have a date with meat."

"Okay!" she breathed, still obviously very taken with the idea of a magically appearing prettiest girl in the universe. She waved distractedly as the two moved off toward the restaurant.

"Well _she_ didn't seem to mind that we were arm-in-arm."

Yukiko smiled through her rosy, embarrassed expression. "You're terrible. But… I suppose I appreciate the compliment. Thank you."

Now they were both flustered. Luckily, their trip to Souzai Daigaku in silence could help them temporarily forget they were in the middle of such a touchy, anxiety-inducing conversation.

Which only lasted until Chie was halfway through her order of _way too many_ croquettes. Yukiko had mostly just been watching her devour them with wide eyes, both disgusted and impressed as she nibbled at her own single croquette.

"WHOO!" she burst out. "This is great! Time for dinner now."

"Time for- you really are a bottomless pit." When Chie only saluted like an American soldier, she giggled. "Wow. Do you want to head into Aiya for a beef bowl? I'm not hungry, but… I don't mind spending more time with you."

Obviously that got her best friend grinning like a loon. "R-really? I mean, you know I'm going to be taking the portal to the meat dimension."

"Oh? I thought they only served that on rainy days."

"Well… they'll make it for me, since I'm one of their best customers. But I have to pay more if it's not raining. Seems like a fair trade-off." She finished off her croquette and stood. "Ready?"

Still caught off guard, she blinked and stood beside Chie. "Lead the way."

The Chinese diner happened to be right next door to the croquette stand, so it wasn't as if they had a long walk ahead of them. Chie pulled her to the door by the hand, and Yukiko stumbled briefly before adapting to the quickened pace, sliding her arms around her prince's to steady herself. All smiles. They were so giddily in love, even though they hadn't been at all aware of said love a couple of days ago. Life could change so fast…

"Welcome!" said a girl in a red apron with short blue hair and a white scarf covering most of it — which was most of what one could see, given that she was already bowed low in greeting. "How may we serve you?"

"Hey, Nakamura!" Chie said casually enough. "Not out on deliveries today?"

The server straightened and shrugged with a smile. "Nope, Satonaka-san." Clearly she was being formal because they were customers, but her tone and expression was full of familiarity. "Booth in the back?"

"Sure! And you already know what I want. Yukiko?"

"Oh, just a small order of _zhēngjiǎo_ ," she told her with a wave of her hand. "And green tea. Thank you, Aika-chan."

"With chicken?" Yukiko nodded, and Aika beamed. "I'll have those out for you right away. Please have a seat."

They made small talk until their food arrived a few minutes later. Chie plunged into the mega beef bowl with gusto while her new girlfriend daintily nibbled at her plate of steamed dumplings. Halfway through, she began to pet up and down Chie's back with her free hand.

"Hmhg?" Chie asked around a mouthful of beef, eyes wide when she turned them on her. Yukiko giggled, which only made her grin — while morsels of food dropped from her lips.

"YUCK!" she cackled, while Chie blotted at her mouth with a napkin. "I'm actually dating a pig!"

After having swallowed down the rest of her mouthful, she laughed and nudged Yukiko with her shoulder as she started to dig into the fried egg on top of the bowl at last. "Sorry, sorry. But like, it was _hilarious_ watching you get grossed out." Which only earned her the daintiest tongue sticking out at her.

They lapsed back into a comfortable silence for a few more minutes. This time, when Yukiko pet her back, Chie didn't overreact; just hummed and relaxed into the gentle touch. It really was a night and day difference. Instead of making them feel awkward and weird, now it was warm, and safe… it felt like a little piece of _home_ could be created wherever and whenever they chose.

"I really… can't believe how easy this is."

"Mm," Chie hummed around her mouthful before reaching over to lay a hand on her bestie's forearm under the table. Once she managed to chew and swallow it down, she whispered, "It's pretty crazy, I can't believe I'm starting to get used to this. Keep thinking you're going to snap out of it and like, tell me to get away from you. Because I'm… whatever it is I am."

Yukiko tutted at her as she wrapped both arms around Chie's, laying her head on her shoulder. "You say that like it's _just_ you. Not both of us. Maybe you had those thoughts about me first but clearly I'm not running away. So…"

When she didn't finish right away, she prompted, "What?"

"So, um… don't be so…" She swallowed. "Don't be mean to yourself. Don't put it all on you, especially when I'm happy. This is a good thing, not a death sentence."

"O-oh, I never- I didn't mean it was bad! Just like, weird, and it's gonna get people saying weird stuff about us. Like Yu and Yosuke already keep doing."

"They should be ashamed of themselves," she sighed as she dipped another _jiaozi_ into the tiny pool of sauce. "Well… Yosuke should especially, but Yu was also too persistent."

Shaking her head, Chie stirred the contents of her bowl angrily. "Oughtta stomp all over those two. Like, it's none of their business! I don't care _what_ they saw in the TV!"

"Shhhh, I'm sorry." Yukiko pet her thigh now, kissing the side of her neck. "I didn't mean to get you upset. Even though I do agree with you. So… relax, alright? Enjoy the meal."

But that presented a brand new development for Chie. Her stomach fluttered as she realised they weren't just cuddling, or being good friends. Food was now completely gone from the forefront of her mind. They were together, _in public,_ and Yukiko was touching her leg. That thin uniform skirt was the only protection from getting to fully enjoy the warm smoothness of her dainty hand.

"Y-Yuki-chan…"

"What? Is something wrong?"

The hand came to a stop, yet Chie was still breathing shallow and rapid when she said, "O-oh, nothing, I just… I'm having a good time. With you! Yeah, with you, um… h-honey."

Both Yukiko's flawlessly-shaped eyebrows shot up. _"Honey?!"_

"SHHHH!" she hissed at her desperately. "I don't know, I've never had a girlfriend before! Or boyfriend! An ANY-gender-friend!"

" **Oh, my honey!"** Yukiko snickered in English, entire face lighting up. Lapsing back into her native tongue, she purred, "I think it's really sweet. Funny, but sweet."

"Oh, shut up, **Honey!** "

"Wow, that isn't very nice. And here I'm being so affectionate toward you."

Though Chie's mouth opened to protest, no sound came out when she felt impossibly soft lips barely pressing into the corner. This was insane! Anybody could see them — anyone from school, from in and around their neighbourhoods. The proprietors of Aiya. All of Inaba. Not only was the hand still teasing her leg, but it seemed to be heading down toward her knee. The hem of her skirt.

"Yukiko… this is so _bad,_ what happens if they catch us?! We're gonna be _out_ to the whole freaking town!"

Snickering a little, the innkeeper whispered into her ear conspiratorially, "Nobody's watching us, I promise. Look around." Her other hand casually gestured to the inside of the restaurant, where couples, men dining alone, groups of students eating while they studied, filled its interior. None of them were looking in their direction.

"A-ah. But…" Chie licked her lips as she felt her skirt being hiked up by the playful fingertips. "They could still… turn around and see you doing this… isn't that illegal, anyway?"

A little at a time, Yukiko's playful smirk faded and she dipped her head as her hand came to a stop. "Sorry, my Prince. I guess I just really want to make you feel good, and it seems exciting to do it right here, but... you're right, it's too risky. I don't know what got into me!"

"Oh, hey…" She put an arm around Yukiko's shoulders, pulling her in close against her body. "I'm not mad or anything. Just like, freaked out at the idea. Do you still wanna try it?"

"No," Yukiko told her with a small smile. "Well… yes, but it isn't that urgent. We should finish our food."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I don't want to make you choke on your beef bowl, anyway."

A little snort fell from her girlfriend's lips. "C'mon, I could handle both at the same time. Probably. I'm only iffy about it because I don't wanna get caught and thrown out of my favourite restaurant."

"Really? Because I don't think I could!" They both laughed a little, and Yukiko leaned up to kiss her cheek again. "But if you're sure you don't mind experimenting… we could see what happens."

"Yeah." She nodded to further drive home how serious she was. "Hit me. If I can't handle it, I'll tap out."

"Tap out?"

"Yep! You know, in American wrestling when they're… done with… yeah, no reason you would know that. They tap the mat in a super obvious way to show they give up. So like… I'll do this."

When Chie tapped the edge of her bowl twice with her chopsticks, Yukiko's eyes hyperfocused on the action and she nodded. "Ah, I see! Yes, I will definitely understand that action's meaning now."

"It's not _that_ serious," she muttered. But then Yukiko was petting the inside of her thigh again, and all she could do was grunt to keep from moaning. "O-ohhhh… oh, we're… starting again."

Not just starting. Yukiko's nimble digits were making their way straight to her panties, no waiting. Chie felt her stomach disappear as she anticipated the touch hitting home at last. Any second now…

"YOU."

They both nearly fell off their chairs at the sudden sharp word issued from so close by. Trying not to appear as flustered as they were, the two girls looked up to see a near-flawless face gazing down at them marred by a haughty, annoyed expression. Her blonde-highlighted hair hung around her face in elaborate curls that had obviously taken a long time to fashion, just brushing the lacey pink choker wrapped around her throat — like Chie already wished her hands were, and they had barely begun a conversation.

 _"Ebihara,"_ Chie breathed as her blood ran cold.

"What?" Ai Ebihara snapped, resting a hand on one hip as she cocked it out to the side. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uhhhhh, you came up to me, dude. What do you want?"

That response made her scoff loudly. "Nothing from some bowl-cut reject. I was talking to the priss."

While Chie was trying to ignore the vein throbbing in her forehead, Yukiko sat up a little straighter and pointed at her own chest. "Me?!"

"God, you're _both_ idiots. There are only two people at this table, so if it's not the bowl cut, guess who it has to be?"

"Hey, watch it," Chie warned her as she leaned an elbow on the table. "Tell us what the hell you want or get out of here."

Scowling at her, Ebihara flipped her hair over her shoulder gracefully before edging into a chair across from them. Which was exactly the opposite of what they wanted; they were kind of in the middle of something! Couldn't she go away and come back another day, much like other black clouds?

"You have something I'm after. Give me that and I'll leave you to your pedestrian food."

Yukiko must have been sensing that her friend was going to stand up and shout at the interrupting annoyance, because she started petting up and down her thigh again. Soothing this time rather than teasing. "And what might I have that you want? I'm sorry, but I truly don't know."

"Narukami," she said without preamble.

"What _about_ Narukami?" Chie asked suspiciously.

"I want him."

The other two girls exchanged a look. Where the hell was _this_ coming from?! "U-uhhh…"

"Don't act so surprised. He's such a tall, mysterious stranger from so far away… practically the only boy at Yasogami who's remotely interesting. And you have been hogging him to yourself long enough. Fork him over."

"Wait, wait," Yukiko giggled nervously, hand flexing on Chie's thigh. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from letting out a yelp of surprise. "You don't think… I'm actually _dating_ Yu, do you?"

"I didn't say anything as heavy as 'dating'," she shot back with a roll of her honey-hued eyes. "But I've seen you two together a few times. How you smile at him. It's loathsome, but I can't deny you have an in with him that I do not… yet."

"We're friends, Ai-san. That's all, I promise!"

Her eyes narrowed as Yukiko pet higher. Chie had to fight to stay focused on the conversation. "Hmm. I could almost believe you…"

"Please do. I have no reason to lie to you."

"Very well. Let's say you _are_ being straight with me. How can I turn his little grey-haired head — what's the story with that grey hair, too? Dye job, genetic thing?"

Before this point, Chie had been mostly nodding along, waiting for the tortuous exchange to come to an end. But something going on beneath the table now had her undivided attention. Yukiko had not stopped in her advance. Her fingers were now teasing the insides of her thighs _dangerously close_ to her center as she kept her eyes pointed squarely at Ebihara.

"U-um…" But when their guest turned a glare on her, she shut up.

"Yu seems to really enjoy a lot of things," Yukiko quickly said to draw her attention back.

"A lot of… things." Ai raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that seriously as specific as you can get?"

"N-no, not at all. Maybe… if _you_ could be more specific yourself, I can be more helpful. I don't mind, I'm just not sure exactly what your goal is."

As Ebihara contemplated, Chie found herself wondering the same question about Yukiko. What was _her_ goal?! There was no way they were actually going to test out their friendship's newfound sexual component while sitting across a restaurant table from the prima donna of Yasogami High. Was there?!

"Well, I guess I'm curious why he hasn't asked me out yet," Ebihara said as Aika returned to their table. "Ever since I was made manager of the… I'm sorry, may we help you?"

Blinking at the cold tone, the waitress said, "U-um, I was going to ask the same thing. What can I get you, miss?"

"Nothing from this craphole." But when nobody followed up that statement, and Aika just scowled, she sighed. "Green tea. Unless you do boba here." The wince was enough to communicate they did not, so she sighed and waved her away, "Just regular old tea then, and take your time. I don't eat at places like this."

As poor Aika stomped away, Chie grunted, "You could h-haaaave been nicer to her."

Unfortunately, that near-moan didn't escape Ai's notice. "Your time of the month or something? You look like you're having some wicked cramps."

"Y-yeah," she said, figuring it was the easiest explanation. The girl made a disgusted face but didn't further pursue that line of questioning; all girls understood _that_ one, right? Plus it took the heat off her from Yukiko's fingers gliding slowly up and down along her slit through the all-too-thin fabric of her undergarment.

"Anyway, I think he's really cute, and he irritates me a lot less than the other boys on the team. Plus when he works up a sweat during practice…" For a brief moment, while she was biting her lip and trying not to smile, she _almost_ looked like a normal girl.

"So you have a crush on him," Yukiko said as casually as she could… while still driving her best friend crazy.

"Uh, yes? Hello? What other conclusion could you reach from what I just said?!"

"Of course, of course. Well, why don't you just ask _him_ out instead?"

Ai scoffed and pressed a hand to her chest as if scandalised by the very notion. "ME?! Look at me. I'm stunning, and I work hard to be this stunning. What's the point in doing so if not so that the boys are the ones to fall at my dainty feet?"

Chie had to chance it, even though she was very nearly panting like a dog in heat. The comment was begging for a rebuttal. "I've… never h-heard someone describe their _own_ feet as dainty before."

"Yeah? Well, stay tuned for more originality, courtesy of moi." Even though she was so elegant-looking, it was such a jarring, brutish move when she suddenly slapped her calf on top of the table, making the dinnerware clatter. "LOOK. Look at them."

Yukiko and Chie both blinked down at her now-shoeless foot. It was covered by her white stockings, of course, but it seemed dainty enough in size. So Chie said, "Yep, that's a foot."

"It, um, seems lovely?" Yukiko attempted. As the leg mercifully withdrew before the proprietor of Aiya saw it and was offended at such a rude display, she continued, "I also envy how trim you are, Ai-san. How do you stay in shape? Chie does a lot of sports training and martial arts."

"Mostly diet," she told them smugly as she pulled out a compact and preened slightly. Chie wondered idly how anyone could be so self-absorbed. "And a little time on my elliptical at home every evening. Gotta burn those calories. What about you?"

Caught off guard by the question being turned around on her, Yukiko smiled demurely as she went back to teasing Chie harder. Her throat constricted to cut off a very genuine moan. "Oh, nothing in particular. Portion control. Though my duties at Amagi Inn do tend to keep me very active."

"Really? I can't believe that — you're way too perfect for that to be the whole story. What is it, kale? Juice cleanses? Do you…"

For a little while, Chie lost track of the conversation. Her entire focus was on those fingers playing over her growing wetness. Luckily the diner was full of pungent, savoury aromas or she would really have been in trouble — no way she wasn't stinking up the place with the scent of her arousal by now. All she wanted was to drag Yukiko off to the bathroom for a glorious finish, but she wasn't sure she would be able to stand just now. Besides, it would be the only move even _more_ conspicuous than what they were already doing.

"...definitely working," Ebihara was finally relenting when she refocused, trying to block out the urges to moan and roll her hips by distracting herself. "But yeah, loan me that when you get the chance."

"Of course." Yukiko only occasionally glanced at Chie, to make sure she wasn't distressed or angry. And since Chie was trying to look politely interested in the conversation, it never showed how intolerable this whole situation was for her, so she went right back to petting and chatting. "And as I said, I don't know what sort of perfume he prefers, but anything should be fine. But knowing Yu, I don't think he would care about the brand if you name-dropped."

Ai's brow furrowed slightly as she tapped the surface of the table. Meanwhile, Chie was doing the same with one of her legs, jiggling it up and down in an attempt to abate the feelings assaulting her. In fact, it made them worse… but even after realising that, she couldn't seem to stop. She _needed_ to get off now.

"Well, he certainly does look at me like he likes what he sees. What the hell's his problem? What more do I have to do?"

"It's probably a courage problem," Yukiko told her — while pressing two fingertips harder against Chie's clit. Which was throbbing so hard it didn't even present a challenge for her to find through the panties. "He hasn't worked up enough to ask someone as pretty as you out yet. Give him time, or make your own interest more obvious, since you said you didn't want to ask him yourself."

Ebihara tapped her chin. "You know, even though you're just a townie, I think you have a point. I won't outright ask him, but I _could_ flirt a little. I'm just used to the boys making all the moves on me."

" _A-ah…"_

"Hm? Something wrong, Satonaka?"

"N-nah," Chie tried to cover. In reality, she had been unable to suppress that moan when Yukiko's fingers inadvertently tensed upon being called 'just a townie'. Despite the reason, it had felt too good against her greedy flesh. "Still my… red tide. Mm, what would you do? To flirt."

Looking at her a little funny, Ebihara shrugged. "I don't know. That's not really my thing; I prefer to have them chasing me. But I guess I've thought about it before, just in theory."

"So, u-um, try out some lines. Maybe we can tell you if they're- _nhh…_ if they're too cheesy."

"Fine. Guess there's no reason not to." While Chie's hips began to squirm back and forth, the orgasm so close now, Ai preened at her hair a little more before leaning her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her folded hands. "Hey there. What's a nice guy like you doing on a crummy team like this?"

"I don't think that's very kind," Yukiko put in — while circling her best friend's clit harder than ever. "Try not to put down the team, he might take offense."

"But they really _are_ a crummy team. Well, except for Kou-chan…" Her expression flickered, and it almost looked a bit wounded for a moment — before she recomposed herself into the usual arrogance. "Okay, you're probably right. Let me try something else."

" _Please,"_ Chie begged. Though it was actually for release and not another flirtation demonstration.

"Wow. You just made yourself my guinea pig, Bowl Cut." Chie wanted to be mad…

But an instant later, Ai's hands were delicately taking up the one of hers that was resting on top of the table. Her eyes softened as she looked up into Chie's, slightly wetted lips parting as her throat worked to swallow, as if nervous.

"I know… I haven't been the manager for very long, but… I really like seeing you every day. And you're so strong, and athletic… not to mention easy on the eyes. I wouldn't mind spending a little more time with you, okay? One on one."

"Really?" Chie half-panted, just barely able to keep from making it completely obvious what was happening under the table. "One on one, h-huh? What for?"

Anyone would have been able to tell Ebihara was fighting down some variety of "Are you stupid?" response. But after the brief flicker of ire, she leaned further forward, showing a slight glimpse of her collarbone beneath her school uniform, the very top of her cleavage. Her eyes were sparkling, lips parted even more as she began to heave for breath. Chie responded in kind… because she couldn't _stop_ herself from letting the desire show through anymore. Even if it wasn't actually desire for the person in front of her, at least it came across like she was playacting for the sake of aiding their classmate.

"To make all your wildest dreams come true. Listen…" One hand still holding Chie's, she let the other one raise up to graze well-manicured fingernails up and down along the inside of her forearm. Goosebumps raced over her skin. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, and…" She feigned being shy, biting her lip and looking away.

"And?" Chie prompted hastily, riding the edge as Yukiko sped up her efforts. A quick glance over showed she was curious to see what might happen next.

Looking back up, the normally snooty girl leaned so close their noses were almost touching, voice dipping down into a husky whisper. "And I want… you to be my _first._ Will you claim my body?"

Well _damn._

This orgasm was the hardest yet, and it bowled over Chie with such a force she had no way to prepare. A moan started to burble up past her lips, and had just barely begun when she belatedly realised that even though her entire mind was consumed with the taboo of this activity, with the sheer potency of the climax itself, she still had to keep the whole diner from figuring out what they were doing. What a nightmare, what an impossible situation!

Which she made worse, because in her Cro-magnon brain's efforts to stop the noise, it sought the easiest avenue possible when there was a set of pouty lips a mere inch away from her own.

"MM!" Ai grunted when she felt the kiss begin, the hand holding Chie's clamping down hard so that her nails bit into the skin of her palm. But when Chie grasped it back just as hard, she sort of… _melted._ Just for a few seconds, they were really kissing each other while Chie's climax made her hips roll against the punishing fingers, milking that moment for all it was worth.

Then Ai drew back and smacked her across the face.

"OW!" she yelped, completely shocked. "Wh-what-"

"EXCUSE YOU!" she gasped out, cheeks flaming red now despite her furious expression. "This was supposed to be _acting_ , not with… with actual… th-that was too far!"

Though Yukiko looked quite thoughtful, she still put in, "Actors kiss all the time. Even in school plays. I think she was just really into the scene."

"Y-yeah," said a dazed Chie, brain too foggy from orgasm afterglow and the stunning blow to her face to say much more.

"W-well, I… I didn't say we could do that, so it was very rude to do it without asking!" The prissy girl pushed her hand into her mouth. "GOD, I kissed a girl and I didn't even hate it — I'm a _yuri._ At least she didn't steal my _first_ kiss! Then I would be _really_ mad, you don't even _know!"_

"She didn't?" Yukiko asked curiously, even while smirking playfully at the flustered Chie. Apparently, they would be talking about this at great length later. "Who was your first kiss?"

"Some boy I- oh, nevermind! Screw you two _perverts,_ you're crazy!" She hastily got up from the table, then stumbled a little before sitting back down. "UGH! And if I didn't take off my shoe earlier, I could have stormed out of here and looked much cooler! DAMN it, I'm having the _worst_ day!"

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: NSFW. Includes petplay.

It took until the end of their dinner and leaving to head back to Chie's house before they were calmed down enough to discuss what had just happened. Chie was highly embarrassed, but before she could even begin to fully dig into the reasons, Yukiko had something else prepared to say.

"I'm very sorry, Chie-chan."

"Ye-what?" she said, switching gears mid-word because she was taken aback and unprepared. "For what?"

"I believe you weren't really ready for me to do what I did just now. And yes, I know you insisted that you could handle it, but… I have a feeling that Ebihara-san coming up to talk to us changed your feelings. But you didn't stop me, so I made an assumption, and now… I think… it was the wrong one."

A long sigh of relief burst from Chie. "Okay, thank you. Whew! I was gonna say that I was a little freaked out, but um, I didn't want you to feel bad. Especially 'cuz I did something so gross."

"Huh?" Head tilting adorably in confusion, almost making Chie want to sweep her into a fresh kiss, she asked, "What did you do?"

"What do you mean? I kissed that bitch!"

"Ohhh. Well, I just assumed that was part of the playacting." Though her eyes did lose a little of their light as they resumed walking.

"Yeah. I mean, it kinda was, but like… I dunno, I was trying not to moan when I came and that was the easiest way to cover my mouth. And she _is_ cute. Even if I wish I was kissing you instead."

That made a brief smile flash across her lips. "Oh, I see."

"Sorry."

"Well… it's my fault for continuing to play with you while she was leaning so close. I could see as plainly as you that she was making a 'kiss me' face."

"A 'kiss me' face?" Yukiko recreated said expression, and Chie had already started to lean in before she shook the spell off. "D-damn, that's… that is super effective!"

The Yasogami beauty queen giggled as she slipped her arm through Chie's and pulled her up the walk to her house. "I've seen the other staff at the inn do it to get tips. Not all of them, of course. Perhaps they watch the same TV shows as Ai-san? Those Korean dramas…"

"Ugh, I can't _stand_ those. I mean, they're good right up until they hit some scene that's just so super dramatic that I can't take it seriously anymore."

"Really? I love them; you're not wrong, they are exaggerated, but I look at it as… that's the art form. It's how they display the full spectrum of the human emotional state by shining a brighter light on them."

Chie blinked a few times, then stuttered, "W-well, yeah, that's true. Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. I always knew you didn't like them as much as me."

"Oh." As she fished out her keys and opened the door, she said, "Well… isn't that bad, though? Like, if we're dating…"

"So what? You and I don't have to like all the same things. I never much cared for that Super Sentai show of yours, but I don't hate it, and I like watching it with you because you just get so into it." As they stepped out of their shoes in the entryway, she asked, "Isn't that what relationships are all about? Compromise?"

"Huh, well yeah. I mean, I wanna argue, but that makes total sense. You're sure you don't mind sitting through my stuff?"

"Not if you don't mind sitting through mine," she answered with such a sweet smile that Chie felt her pulse racing. "I think that's settled. We will continue to share our shows."

"Deal," she chuckled lightly as they lingered near the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, you can go on up and start on your homework while I get a couple chores done. Won't be that long."

"You sure you don't want some help?" Yukiko asked with very genuine concern in her tone.

"No, no! I got this. Plus once you figure out the assignment you can help my dumb ass."

Pouting, she slapped her arm and hissed, "Stop that! You are _not_ dumb. Just not an academic." And still they lingered. Yukiko slid her hands up to perch on Chie's shoulders. "You're my Prince."

What was she supposed to do _besides_ kiss her? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to happen, because she was already leaning in to gently take her soft lips, pressing her back against the wall by the bottom step. Yukiko barely squeaked before relaxing into the contact, lips sliding over her girlfriend's as they enjoyed their sweet moment together.

"CHIE! IS THAT YOU?"

Moment over. Hastily stepping away from her friend, she called out, "YEAH, MOM! BE THERE IN A SEC!" Then she hissed, "Go on, I'll catch up!"

"Okay," she chuckled before whispering, "I'll try not to think too hard about how sexy you looked in Aiya. Squirming everywhere from my-"

"SHHH! God, you're going to drive me crazy, I gotta go talk to my mom!" But they were both grinning as they parted ways.

~ o ~

The chores didn't take too long. Her mother wanted her to clean up the kitchen, take out the trash, and to go outside and feed Muku. She rumpled the big, lovable Saint Bernard's fur after his bowl was full, smiling and doting on him for a little while. He would need a walk in an hour or two.

"Awww, your poor collar," she sighed as he licked her all over the face. "STOP! Haha! Sorry, I got you a new one but it's too small, I gotta take it back. This weekend, I promise."

Muku barked as she played with his jowls, still sadly glancing at the old, threadbare leather around his neck. Privately, she was glad she had the wrong size; it was red and she thought maybe a black collar would suit him better. Serendipitous. Then he pounced on her and she laughed and shoved him away.

"Okay, OKAY! I gotta go, but I'll be back in a few, boy. Be good!"

He barked his approval. She shook her head and rolled around with him again. Chie had always liked dogs, but there was an even more special bond she shared with him. Yukiko had loved him the minute she found him, but her parents knew a busy inn was no place for a puppy that would grow into such a large, exuberant dog. That had been how Chie met her for the first time: sobbing on the sidewalk and clinging to his neck, lamenting that she couldn't keep the creature that had wormed its way into her heart so quickly. So Chie's agreement to take in Muku had cemented their freshly-created bond — an early indicator of how close they would eventually become.

Almost like he was their child or something.

Chie quickly washed up and used the toilet before heading into her room to check on her friend. "Hey, so I was gonna grab us some chips but Mom says we shouldn't spoil our dinner, so I guess… we have to…"

"Oh, that's fine," Yukiko said with a sweet smile from where she sat on the floor in front of Chie's bed, copying down notes from the textbook open next to her. Then she noticed she had frozen just inside the door. "Um, Chie? Is something the matter?"

"What… is that…?"

After a few seconds of trying to figure out what she meant, she saw the finger pointing at her. "What is me?" But when her hand moved up to touch her chest, she breathed, "O-oh. I forgot."

Apparently, Yukiko had forgotten she was wearing Muku's would-be replacement collar. The bright red of the leather was rather flattering against her pale skin, and the shiny metal studs caught the light just right. It was a little loose around her neck but not terribly so — though she had it cinched to the tightest setting.

"How? I m-mean… how could you forget you were wearing it? Isn't it uncomfortable?"

"No, not really. But now I feel silly…" She smiled shyly as Chie closed the door and walked over to sit on the bed. "I just saw it lying on your dresser and thought I might try it on, because of how happy it made my shadow. But I completely forgot I did that when I got focused on homework."

"Well, um, it's totally cool. Just really wasn't expecting it, but I guess…" She shrugged awkwardly, hands clenching on the edge of the bed.

And then Yukiko turned slightly and looked up at her, eyes wide with curiosity and concern. It made for a very specific type of display that Chie could not ignore: fists pressing down into the rug, back arched. Almost on her hands and knees. And that striking red collar dangling around her neck while she looked at her with such a compassionate expression…

Compassionate… or _loyal. Obedient._

"You guess?"

"I guess… it does kinda… look good." That was not quite what she had intended to say. Really, she had completely forgotten what she was going to say before now. Wait — now she remembered. "You're sure it's not scratchy or something? Because if you like it, hey, feel free."

Cheeks turning a little rosy, she smiled and said, "I don't mind it. Really! Does… it make _you_ uncomfortable?"

"What? I'm not the one wearing it!" But when Yukiko raised an eyebrow, she scratched the side of her face and looked away. "W-well, like… it's weird, because… people don't normally… but you kinda make it work, a-and you look so natural sitting down there… with it on your neck…"

"Sitting down here?" Unfortunately for both of them, she figured it out before Chie herself did. _"Ohhhh._ Because it's a dog collar, right?"

"Huh?"

Yukiko walked in a small circle on her hands and knees, a sort of bemused smile on her lips. "Am I a pretty puppy?"

 _Full blush._ Chie felt like someone could make okonomiyaki on her face, it was burning so hot as she gazed down at her best friend, who was literally behaving like a dog. _For her._ If not for seeing Other-Yukiko do the same thing, she would be laughing her ass off right now, thinking it was a mere joke. But that shadow had made it distinctly…

Sexual.

"Yeah," she breathed. When Yukiko actually waggled her hips from side to side, she reached down and caressed her hand over her hair. "Pretty girl."

"Mmm," she sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into the touch. "My Prince…" The eyes slit open and she smirked. "My Master?"

God, why did that instantly stir butterflies in her stomach? Not only that… but it made her want to further explore the dynamic between them. "Does, um… does my cute little Yukiko want a treat?" Then she muttered, "That does _not_ sound right, even a little."

Yukiko chuckled. "You're right, Yukiko isn't a very good dog name."

"How about…" It came pretty easy to her while she was petting over her hair again. "Yuka?"

"Oh? You think I'm a gentle flower?" Belatedly, the meaning began to catch up to her and her cheeks turned rosy. "Chie…"

"You knew that, though," she hedged as her own face flushed. "Everybody in Inaba knows… especially after you've been on the news. You're the fairest in the land, and you would never hurt a fly. Japan's sweetheart."

Biting her lip to keep from giggling, she finally managed to whisper bashfully, "Stop. I'm n-not that pretty."

"God, you _so_ are. But I know… you don't see it. Like, even before your shadow pretty solidly confirmed that. But I swear… I'm gonna spend my whole life trying to convince you."

Now tears were blossoming at the corners of Yukiko's eyes. She trembled a little, swallowed hard. Clearly her thoughts were racing, butting up against the wall of emotion trying to overtake her. Then rubbed her cheek against Chie's leg. "Master makes Yuka _so happy._ Yuka is hers forever."

Now her heart really was hammering in her chest, and her pulse was pounding somewhere downstairs — an area she would always associate with Yukiko for the rest of her life. Because she was the only one for her. _Hers._ How lucky could she get?

"Good girl, Yuka. Good girl."

"Chie? Are you… crying? Is everything-"

"All good," she cut her off, wiping at her eyes hastily. "Noooo problem here! Just, um… just all… a-anyway, it looks like you're really happy about the collar, so it's yours. All for Yuka, okay?"

"All for Yuka!" she piped up with a big grin and a little bounce. Of course, Chie could see she was a little bit bemused that she liked having her best friend as a dog, but… it wasn't _all_ that. She also found their little impromptu roleplay to be fulfilling somehow. Both of them did.

"Okay, up, Yuka!" She obeyed, climbing into her lap. "Such a good girl — so pretty, so sweet."

Clearly a little nervous about it, Yukiko let out a quiet little bark. It didn't sound much like an actual dog but it wasn't bad for a first try. Not sure what else to do, Chie decided to kiss all over her face like she would with Muku.

"AH!" she yelped out before giggling, "Stooop, that's so much!"

"Well I have to show my doggy how much I love her," she laughed back — before her breath caught in her throat. It had been so easy to say. Was this too big a step too soon, when they had only just barely begun to realize they had such feelings for each other?

But before she could dwell on it too deeply, Yukiko was already pressing a very light kiss to her lips. "Yuka loves you too, Master. Very much."

"R-really? Are we just playing, or…?" When Yukiko shook her head, biting her bottom lip to keep from grinning too wide, Chie found she felt light-headed. "Oh. Wow, I'm- okay then. I guess that answers that question."

"Guess it does. Is that alright?"

"Absolutely. I mean… I already knew I loved you the most, so I guess… since we're together now, that means…"

"We're _in love,"_ Yukiko breathed for the two of them. Her arms tightened around Chie's body as she pressed her face into her neck, adding in a muffled voice, "I… this is crazy, and I'm shocked, but I've never been happier. Do you think this is normal?"

The Prince couldn't help laughing nervously as she pushed her hands into her best friend's back through the layers of her school uniform. "How the heck should I know? I've never been in love before! Geez, I've never even put a note in a boy's locker before!"

"Well, it probably isn't normal that I'm wearing a collar. But otherwise, it feels… nice. Letting you keep me. I belong to you forever."

"Yeah. Crazy, but yeah, I… I'm never letting you go. Bet on that."

The next kiss lasted for a long minute, hands caressing, lips entwining as their hot breath commingled in the space between their bodies. Before she knew it, Chie was undressing her as they rolled over on the sheets, hands seeming to know exactly where to go.

"You want me right now?" Yukiko asked in scarcely a whisper, pupils dilated fully as she gazed up at her best friend.

"Damn right. Do you… _not_ want to? We could-"

"I just want to be close to you," she cut her off. "What we do isn't nearly as important."

Chie kissed along her neck, feeling her pulse and listening to her shaky breaths. That light scent that only belonged to Yukiko filled her lungs as she finally got her skirt down her legs, then began to peel her black tights off.

"Oh…"

"What?" Chie asked urgently, stopping with them bunched around her friend's knees. "Did I screw up?"

"N-no, you're fine! I was just wondering if you had... a thing… but I suppose I don't know why I thought about that."

Completely lost, she prompted, "Thing? What thing?"

"For stockings. For some reason, when you started taking them off my thought was that clearly you don't have a thing for stockings if you're getting rid of them."

Glancing at the tights, she finally connected the dots and let out a long "Ohhhhhh" as her head bobbed up and down. "R-right! Well… I've always thought you look great in tights, but I definitely never thought about it _that_ way! Did you… _want_ me to be into them like that?"

"NO! I mean…" Now her legs were fidgeting, so Chie continued to pull the stockings off to let her have the freedom to move. "You were into stepping on my face, and… I kind of was too… I was mostly just curious."

"Oh. Like, if I'm into feet and stuff?" She wasn't, but could definitely see how Yukiko got that impression. "Nah. But don't get me wrong, yours are cuter than Ebihara's, that's for sure."

That made her smirk. At first she couldn't figure out why, but then Yukiko muttered, "You were checking hers out, huh?"

"What?! No _way!_ I m-mean, she really didn't leave us much choice, did she? Slamming her leg up on the table like that! She's crazy!"

"She's vain," Yukiko giggled as she ran her toes up and down her girlfriend's leg. "But thank you, for your reassurance. I wasn't trying to fish for compliments but I like it when you give them."

"No problem. Easy when I think you're the hottest girl on the planet." She picked up the playful foot and began to massage.

_"Mmmhh…"_

Chie felt a new flutter in the pit of her stomach. Yukiko was into this? No… it was a lot more likely she was enjoying a foot massage like a normal person. Well that was fine. Smiling in the knowledge that she could do something for her favourite person, she started digging in harder with her thumbs.

"O-oh goodness!" she gasped out, squirming and clutching at the sheets as her pale pink sole was assaulted. "Chie! W-wait!"

So she paused in her motions. "Yeah?"

"Shouldn't… I be doing this for you, _Master?"_

"Well… I mean, um…" Flustered by the return of that term of address, she shrugged and looked away. "I've… never seen any dog give a foot massage, so I think you're in the clear. Thanks, though."

"But isn't that an obvious benefit of having a dog with opposable thumbs?" They both laughed at that one, and Yukiko took the opportunity to crawl up into her lap. "I also assume you would rather have human-kisses than dog-kisses."

"Hell yeah, I would. C'mere, Yuka."

Another few minutes became lost to time. Eventually, they were both in their underwear and tangled up in the sheets, enjoying the closeness and warmth that provided. Paradise. Chie really wouldn't have minded if time froze in that ephemeral moment: she couldn't imagine a better one coming in the future.

Although the collar was still on. Was she really that comfortable in it? Curious, she slipped a finger in past the band of leather and gave it a gentle tug.

"Nhhh," she breathed into Chie's lips. That sounded favourable. So she tried it again a bit harder, and this time their kiss broke so she could moan out, "A-ah… Master?"

"Is my Yuka okay?" she asked cautiously. She only wanted to keep going if it wasn't a problem.

"Uh-huh. I mean, um, yes. Yuka is fine." She maneuvered two sets of legs until they were able to press their sexes up against each other, thin layers of panties notwithstanding. "Mmhh… does Master want to train me now?"

Luckily, Yukiko had tapped the hand tugging at her collar with a single finger; otherwise she wouldn't have been able to catch on. "Oh? So… you like this _training?"_

"Yes!" she gasped out, barely a strain in her voice from the restricted airflow. "M-makes me feel… like Master will take care of me!"

Maybe eventually, they would be practiced enough that they wouldn't have to reassure each other so often. But even with that slowing things down… this was still so much hotter than when she had been trampling Yukiko or spanking her. It felt a lot more _right_ – which was both worrying and reassuring at the same time. Why did she like bossing her around? She knew Yukiko wanted someone to take care of her, but was that all it was for Chie? That she wanted to be her caretaker, and it got a little twisted due to petty jealousy?

"A-ah!" Yukiko gasped out a little weaker, face flushed from the effort to breathe.

"Good girl," Chie purred down at her as she rolled her hips a little harder. What she wouldn't give to suddenly sprout a thick cock with which to slam into her… or vice versa, really, but she figured being the owner meant she was supposed to have it. Maybe they could look into _buying_ one at least. "Master's so happy you… like your training! I'm gonna train you _real_ good!"

Hotter and hotter, their passions burned as they writhed together. Eventually, Chie awkwardly yanked down her own panties, and Yukiko took advantage of the break to drag air into her lungs and divest herself of all remaining garments, as well. Then they resumed their positions, this time with one of Yukiko's legs up over her shoulder.

"MMhhh! My Prince! Or… I mean, Master?"

Chuckling breathlessly, she told her, "It's fine, whatever! Do you… like one more than the other?"

"Well…" Laughing herself now, if a bit more shyly, she licked her lips before answering, "I like Prince more, but… Master is… it m-makes more- NNH! Makes more sense when you have me in a collar!"

"Yeah? I mean… this was your idea," she snorted as she tugged on the leather.

"Was it? I think it was yours! In the TV!"

That brought a full blush back to Chie's cheeks — though it wasn't a far leap, since she was already glowing red from the exertion. "Y-yeah? I guess… you have a point, b-but…"

"I know! You didn't really… think of me… it's okay! Just keep going!"

"R-right!"

So keep going they did. Chie made sure to exert more pressure on the collar, on Yukiko's _throat_ as their hips ground against each other. GOD, that direct contact really made a difference! It still wasn't as incredible as using fingers or mouths, but the knowledge that her most intimate area was pressing right against that of her best friend in the whole world more than made up for the awkwardness and lessened sensation. Her heat was building so fast that she knew it wouldn't take more than another minute.

"M-Master!" Yukiko gasped out weakly. "M-my head… is spinny…"

"Oh shit!" She let go immediately. "Are you okay?! Yukiko!"

After a couple of breaths, she smiled up at Chie. "Y-yeah! Thank you. But you didn't have to stop…"

When her calf muscle bounced off Chie's shoulder, she knew what she meant and smiled as she returned to her blistering pace, grinding their bodies against one another. She still slipped a thumb under her collar to exert pressure, but it was barely anything now — just a little added interest.

"MASTER! I'm- I am close! I think! A-are you?!"

"Ohhhhh YEAH! GOD! I'm so close, Yuk- _Yuka!_ Be a good little doggie and cum for me!"

Instantly, she could see the blush was so much brighter in Yukiko's cheeks. Either from the pet name, being called a doggie, or how vulgar the request was. Maybe all of them — maybe it didn't matter. But all she panted out that was intelligible was the word "YES!" before she was rolling her hips just as hard, meeting her partner on her level.

They both climaxed mere moments later. Chie was both elated and disturbed to feel the wetness growing between them, and couldn't even be sure if most of that was coming from herself or the pet writhing and squealing on her bed. But in the end she decided there was really nothing wrong; she just was used to feeling wet things as being "gross". This was the feeling of being with her lover, and she would cherish it.

" _Ohhhhhh,"_ Yukiko groaned as their bodies finally came to a stop and the pressure on her collar was released. "Wow… that… is it… supposed to get better… every time?"

Laughing weakly, Chie slowly moved her leg from off of her shoulder and laid it down before she flopped onto her side next to her best friend. "Maybe? I… agree though, that… was _super_ hot!"

"Yeah," she giggled as she easily rolled to face her, eyes dancing with light and joy. "I can't believe… we can do this, and it feels that good! Without a boy! I thought it was supposed to…"

When she didn't answer right away, Chie prompted, "Supposed to?"

"Oh, sorry. I just meant, I thought boys and girls had bodies that fit together. So that was how sex would be the most pleasurable."

"Well, I guess I sorta thought the same," she admitted with a half-smile as she pet up and down Yukiko's side. And Yukiko's eyes closed in bliss, so clearly it was the right move. "But like, whatever, right? I love you and I'm glad you were into it, since I was, too. Kinda works out like that."

Yukiko nodded fervently. "I agree — _very_ much. And I'm devoted to you, so I don't really feel any need to find out the differences."

"You sure? Like, I would totally get it if you wanna bang some guy and figure out if like, the lesbian life is really what you want."

"Very sure," she reassured her with a little peck on the cheek. "The more I get used to you being my lover, the more I know… it was always going to be this way. You and I were destined to be together."

Tears began to form at the corners of Chie's eyes. They snuck up on her, and she had already sniffled by the time she regained control — which meant it was too late. Her Yukiko was already kissing the tears away, embracing her tighter.

"It's okay, my Prince."

"I just l-love you s-so much!" she blubbered as she clung tightly to her girlfriend. She could hear a tightness in Yukiko's voice when she reassured her that everything was going to be fine, but she didn't break down; she had to be strong while the other was weak. She knew they would be taking turns like this for a long, long time.

"Ohh, it's okay! Shhh, Chie, I love you, too!" The delicate hand petting over her hair both helped and made it worse. "Yuka loves Master!"

That made the next sob turn into a chuckle. "God… we're pretty messed up!"

"No, I don't think so. Just different." She pushed her head back enough to kiss her lips, gazing up into her eyes — and revealing her own were slightly wet. "But you and I are forever. Even if we're weird, we can be weird together, okay?"

"Uh-huh," she managed to blubber, sucking in a deep, _hard_ breath to steady her nerves. "Okay… God, we have homework to do and stuff, and I'm… I mean, we just banged, and it was incredible, and I don't know why I'm sad about being so happy?"

Yukiko giggled and kissed both her cheeks again. "I've heard that people cry when they experience extreme emotions. I know I do. Doesn't only have to be _bad_ emotions, you know."

"Well, I think it sucks! Get me outta this mess!" They both laughed as they relaxed on the bed, more or less nude and basking in the afterglow of a good lay… and the acceptance of their connection to each other. "Ah man… Yuki-chan, I'm so happy."

"Me, too," she whispered as she curled around her body and nestled in again. "Your puppy really loves you."

"Y-you don't have to say the puppy thing, y'know. I was just messing around."

"You were not. And neither am I." As Chie tried to fight off the hot shame trying to fill her, her new pet kissed her gently and whispered, "I can be your secret puppy whenever one of us needs it. I do not mind at all, because I know you take good care of Muku, so… why wouldn't you take good care of me?"

"It's demeaning…" When Yukiko frowned hard, she sighed. "Okay, okay, we both know I'm gonna treat you great for a dog, but I should be okay treating you like a _person_ , right? So… maybe just a sexy thing, once in a while… that's not _so_ bad."

Her girlfriend pet up and down her stomach. "Whatever makes you comfortable. But if it would help… I'll start wearing this collar all the time to help you get used to it."

"WHAT?! N-no, don't- I mean, somebody's gonna ask, and what the hell would you tell them?!"

"That I belong to Master." When Chie paled, she giggled hard a few times before saying, "I'm kidding! I would tell them I'm trying out a new fashion statement or something. I think it looks nice."

Swallowing hard, she looked down at her nude best friend, clad _only_ in that collar. "Damn, it looks _really_ nice… but I don't want anybody else seeing you like _that."_

"You don't? Oh…" Her cheeks turning rosy, she bit her lip and looked away shyly. _Adorable._ "Yuka is all yours, you know. Nobody else will see me this way. But… w-well…"

"What?" she prompted.

"I'm _only_ yours. And this collar will tell people that, even if I don't confirm it. Maybe subconsciously, it will stop guys from hitting on me, because they will equate seeing a collar with ownership. You don't own me like a slave," she cut Chie off when she saw her opening her mouth to protest. "But we can _play_ like you're my pet-owner. And the rest of the time, think of it like an engagement ring."

Well, if Chie didn't already feel like she was about to faint, she definitely did now. "ENGAGEMENT! Y-you wanna marry me?!"

"Obviously."

"NO! No, _not_ obvious — I'm losing my… you would really…"

"Shhhh," she soothed her as the tears came back for both of them, even if moreso for the kung fu master. "Chie, have you heard of a promise ring?" A little nod, so she continued, "Let's say that instead of an engagement ring, then. Just a promise that we are exclusive, not that we're planning to get married. Is… that less… troubling?"

At first, Chie just nodded, and earned herself a few more kisses in the process. When she found her voice again, she whispered, "Not 'troubling'. God, I'm sorry, it's just… freaking me out that I get to be this close to you! That you wanna make it a steady thing! Like, so do I, but you're a literal dream girl and you're picking me over anybody in the whole country, and I just… can't… _even!"_

"Just a puppy who loves her Master," she whispered into her lips. "Yuka is all for you. Forever."

She had to step up. Say something less freaky-outy. "And Master is never, _ever_ letting you go." Then she let her urgent need to kiss her sweep over them both.

Their homework remained neglected for some time.

* * *

_To Be Concluded…_


	8. EPILOGUE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Petplay, exhibitionism, cunnilingus, watersports(kinda). This chapter is going to remind people that I once co-wrote My Sister's Mistress, haha… though honestly it's not that bad.
> 
> Happy December!
> 
> I'm very sorry to all three of you waiting for the epilogue of this fic. I was feeling fairly dissatisfied with my writing, so I took some time off for reading, and NaNoWriMo to focus on my original work (expect news about that soon). Though some mental fog remains, I'm feeling a little sharper and more capable now to continue delivering updates. And to that end...
> 
> Prepare yourselves for WE'LL FACE OURSELVES: GOLDEN! This will not continue the story of Yukiko and Chie, though they will be around here and there; instead, it will focus on another unlikely ship entirely. I'll begin posting that in about a month, or sooner if I find time. You may also want to keep your eyes peeled for more content pertaining to another fandom of which I am a part...
> 
> Thanks so much for sticking with this until the end. If you'd like to look me up on other platforms, please [check out my Carrd](https://jxsleator.carrd.co/)!
> 
> Until we meet again,  
> Jessex

A horrific day that everyone hoped would never come had finally ambushed the Investigation Team. Yu Narukami was leaving Inaba.

Not a dry eye was to be had at the Yasoinaba station as they watched their gray-haired friend bid fond farewells to all the other friends he had made throughout the year. Chie herself was a little shocked to see just how many there were — hell, even after almost a year she was still shocked that Rise Kujikawa, _the real Risette_ , was one of them! An internationally known pop idol! But there she was, hanging on one of Yu's arms and sobbing into his jacket.

"Yu-kun, don't gooooo!" she blubbered, long auburn pigtails trembling with her movements. "I wanna get to spend G-Golden Week with you, Senpaiiiiii!"

Naoto and Kanji weren't much better. They made for such an odd-looking pair, the rough-and-tumble _yakuza-_ wannabe letting fat tears roll down his cheeks as he was comforted by the small, reserved boy-who-was-not-quite-a-boy. Even after finding out Naoto was a woman, not much had changed; she still dressed like a boy and even behaved like one in most ways. All of Rise's attempts to "girlify" her had fallen flat. Chie really had wound up with a colourful assortment of friends, but she wouldn't change that for the world.

"Yeah, man, you can't take off," Yosuke chuckled. Trying to suppress his feelings with humour; they all knew he was going to miss Yu as much as anyone. "Your _girlfriend's_ gonna miss you, and that ain't cool."

Not that he was pointing at Rise. No, his finger was levelled at Nanako — the little girl she and Yukiko had run into once upon a time who turned out to be Yu's cousin. She was currently hiding behind the leg of her father, Detective Ryotaro Dojima, coming over shy after he had reprimanded her for being too clingy with the boy she had dubbed her big brother. Not that he could control Rise doing the exact same thing, despite having nearly ten years on the second-grader.

"Oh, shut up," Yu grunted — though his motivation was pure, as always. "Don't tease her."

"Whaaat? I'm teasing _you,_ not…" But at the glares from everybody, Yosuke sighed and deflated. "You guys are no fun."

Rise pulled back, her large doe eyes shining with tears — on purpose, Chie knew. She was a top notch actress. "Can't you give me a little kiss goodbye? Something to keep me from… from _dying_ from missing you?"

"Oh _please,_ " Yukiko muttered under her breath with a begrudging smile.

But Yu obliged. Sort of. Instead of sweeping her into a graceful dip and really planting one on her, he kissed her forehead. It _was_ a tender gesture, though, so Rise couldn't complain; a much more genuine little smile pulled at her pouty mouth, and she hugged him around the middle.

"Excuse me? What do you think _you're_ doing?"

They all pulled back to see Ai Ebihara approaching, hands on her hips. This bitch again? However, something was different about her compared to their last run-in. She was still glamorous, but Chie couldn't help noticing it seemed like her outfit was a little more… conservative?

"What is _who_ doing?" Rise protested, clinging a little tighter to Yu's arm.

"You! Little trollop!" The teen queen stomped over to the two of them, getting right up in Rise's face. She was a little taller and therefore more imposing, but Rise didn't seem scared in the slightest. "Get your greedy little paws _off_ my boyfriend!"

The idol stamped her foot and snapped, "HEY! I don't see your name on him anywhere!"

Yu gulped and began to back away. "Uh…"

"Really?" Ebihara scoffed. "What makes you think you have any claim to him, slut puppy? He went to the festival with me — _and_ spent Christmas Eve with me, too! And for your goddamn information, we got pretty close!"

Poor Rise. Though she was flirty and manipulative toward Yu and Yosuke, it was in a playful way; she did consider them both friends but couldn't seem to suppress her impulses. And here Ai was making all kinds of accusations and getting legitimately competitive. Her lip wobbled, though Chie was fairly certain it had as much to do with losing out to Ai as it had to do with losing Yu himself.

"Senpai, say that's not true! How could you, when I… I let you… _you know!"_

"Hey, it doesn't count when I'm just sitting there and you plop your butt down on my hand," he protested at her. "And Ai-chan, we hugged a little; please don't tease her by making it sound like more."

Both of his would-be girlfriends pouted and averted their eyes, cheeks turning pinker. Ai seemed a little more genuinely hurt than her rival for the boy's attentions.

"Whew," Yosuke exhaled, wiping his brow. "Don't know how you get away with it, juggling two chicks like that."

"That's not- I didn't…" Yu sighed, shaking his head as he facepalmed. "Maybe I'm glad to be leaving."

But the minute he said so, even if it was in jest, all faces wore expressions of deep sorrow. Nobody really wanted him to go. They had all known his stopover in Inaba had been temporary and yet it was still a terrible shock that Yu would no longer be hanging out with them on a daily basis, going to school, having roundtable discussions in the Junes food court.

"The end of an era, man," Kanji grunted, trying to look tough and only partially succeeding.

"Aww, cheer up, guys!" Teddie proclaimed, bouncing up and down on his heels so hard his blond locks bounced with him. "We'll see Sensei again! Bet on that!"

"There you go, Teddie," Yu laughed quietly, nodding his direction. The bear-shadow-turned-human beamed.

"And in the meantime, I can look after all the girls for you! You don't have to worry about a thing!"

Rise stuck her tongue out at the well-meaning bear. "I don't want you, I want Senpai!"

As the squabbling only grew worse, other classmates began to approach to wish Yu bon voyage. Some girl from his drama class, those guys from the basketball team… even some young boy and his clearly married mother, though she did seem a bit too young to have a child of that age. Their team leader really had left an impression in the short year he had lived there.

When the train whistle signaled that it was about to pull away, the bickering came to an end so they could truly see their friend off. A lot of tearful hugs and well wishes were offered before he was inside, looking out the window at them as it pulled away from the station. They ran after him all the way to the end of the platform until they ran out of space, then stood waving after him until the train was completely out of sight.

Chie was amused that it turned out to be Rise comforting Ebihara, and Yosuke comforting Teddie. Those were some pretty mismatched pairings. Ryotaro took a sobbing Nanako home, and that seemed to be an unofficial signal for them to disperse from the station.

While Kanji was busy throwing an arm around Yosuke's shoulders, proclaiming loudly that they were about to go drinking despite the fact that neither of them had easy access to alcohol at their age, it was Naoto of all people who started drifting closer to Chie and Yukiko. At first, Chie assumed she just wanted some company, but it turned out…

"Forgive my curiosity, but I've been wondering about something for a while now."

"Hm?" asked a bleary eyed Yukiko. She hadn't sobbed the way Rise did, but she wasn't completely unaffected by the parting. "I'm sorry, what's that?"

"Why have you been wearing a dog collar for the past several months?"

Both girls stopped dead in their tracks. If this were an anime, there would have been a record-scratch sound effect. Yukiko flashed a nervous half-smile at her girlfriend, who was busy tugging at the neckline of her shirt and gulping.

"W-well, it's… a fashion statement," the junior innkeeper finally told her.

"Uh… huh." Her sharp eyes looked between the two. "You may have forgotten in all the excitement of defeating Adachi and Izanami, but I _am_ a detective. Do you want me to simply state what I have deduced from my observations, or would you like t-"

"Okay, okay, already!" Chie hissed, waving back and forth rapidly with her hand. "Can you maybe keep it under that crazy blue hat of yours?!"

Before Naoto could respond to the crack about her belted newsboy cap, a throat was cleared behind the three of them. Ai had broken off from the others and approached them, looking penitent and uncomfortable.

"Yes?" Yukiko prompted her in mild surprise.

"I… thought I should say… I am sorry." She swallowed hard, brows furrowed. The expression still made her look angry and snobby, despite her tone of voice being gentle now; she just had resting bitch face. "Probably too late. But I was really going through some things when I sidelined you two in Aiya, and being rude is second nature to me. Can't be the most stunning girl in school without it going to your head, can you?"

"You say that like I would ever know," Chie snorted.

"Right. And… normally I would be agreeing with you and belittling you, Bowl Cu- I mean, Satonaka. I have a lot of practice." Grimacing, she growled, "Got so used to being queen bitch that it's so hard to just be nice."

After a brief silence, so awkward that it felt as if any sound would have been preferable, Yukiko laid a hand on Ai's arm, gentle and reassuring. "Please, Ai-san. We all have darkness inside of us; nobody is a perfect person. So I think it's very admirable you're seeing your flaws and that you're trying to improve. I am the same, and so are my friends."

"Oh yeah?" The girl let out a wet-sounding laugh; indeed, tears were budding at the corners of her eyes. "How the hell aren't _you_ perfect, Miss Goody Two-Shoes? I mean… I've always been so jealous of how the boys talk about you. No 'buts'."

"No butts?!" Chie burst out. "What do you mean? She's got a GREAT butt!"

Ai chuckled a little more heartily at that. Naoto was the only one who tapped her chin while noticing Yukiko's slight blush from the compliment; the others weren't paying it any attention. "No, no, not her ass. Which fine, sure, it's fantastic. I mean like, they describe both of us as really beautiful, or hot or whatever. Same words for both of us. But with me, it always had a 'but she's such a bitch', 'but she's stuck up', 'but she's psycho' attached. Yukiko… a couple of guys _said_ you were snooty if you turned them down for a date, but the rest of them saw through that. You're a good woman and I'm just a good- _looking_ woman. I did so much work to be beautiful so boys would like me, but I'm just… ugly on the inside."

Though clearly, Yukiko was about to speak up, Chie beat her to the punch. "So that's it, huh? You're pathetic."

 _"Excuse_ me?"

"C'mon, Ebihara. You're made of tougher shit than that. Where's that girl who slammed her leg up on the table in Aiya and demanded we appreciate it?"

Though the teen queen had been firing up, being reminded of that moment in the diner made her squirm and fold her arms tightly over her chest. "That was stupid. Do you wanna know why I did that?" When Yukiko nodded, she pushed ahead, "Thing is, I was a... when I was little, I was nowhere near the adorable Ai you see before you now. Fat and hideous, got told I had pig hooves. So like, I'm sure it sounds really stupid to you guys, but having dainty little feet now is super amazing to me still."

 _"You_ were fat?!" Chie demanded, looking her up and down afresh. "No way! I call bullshit!"

"Yep, a total blimp. And I got hella teased because I didn't match up with their… whatever. Yu already knows all this stuff, but pretty much I decided to reinvent myself when I found out we were moving to Inaba. Obviously it went to my head, but… at least I'm better now. Getting better all the time."

None of them knew what to say. Chie, for her part, was stunned that Ebihara turned out to be more than a one-dimensional prima donna; she had never given any indication otherwise, even in Aiya when her interests in Yu were revealed to be genuine. Maybe he was the one responsible. After all, while the team had been doing their best to save the victims from dying inside the TV and stop further kidnappings in the first place, Yu Narukami had touched all their lives, brought about an awakening of sorts to their inner beauty that they likely would never have found within themselves without him shedding that light. It just seemed to be one of his latent talents. Unsurprising that he had done the same for the entitled fashionista.

"There seems to be only one solution for this predicament," Naoto was stating firmly with a small nod, finger tapping her chin. "We must return to Aiya to remember our departed friend, and strengthen our bonds with each other."

"Oooh, a party!" Rise piped up with an excited little bounce, despite the light drizzle that was beginning to fall. "Yes _please!"_

"I guess that's a plan," Chie agreed as Rise, Kanji and Yosuke joined them. "What do you guys think? We catching the portal to the meat dimension?"

Grimacing, Yosuke demanded, "Do you have to call it that _every_ time, Satonaka?! Geesh! Sounds super nasty."

"Bet you can't even handle it."

"Wha- OH YEAH?! BRING IT ON!"

~ o ~

"Ohhhhh, I couldn't eat another bite," Yukiko groaned as they slid open the door to her bedroom at the Amagi Inn. They had whiled away many hours at the diner before the fellowship was broken, and they began to drift their separate ways. Rise was the most afraid to be alone out of any of them, and seemed to want to hang out with Ebihara, despite their strife over Yu's affections. Naoto went off by herself to think, Kanji and Yosuke reinitiated their quest for liquor, that girl from drama class was hanging out with Daisuke and Kou from the sports clubs… and the two illicit lovers had paired off with no one questioning why. Probably because they had already been best friends for their entire lives.

"Well I could," Chie laughed in response as she grabbed a pair of paper slippers. "But you know me, I can always eat."

Yukiko giggled as she began to strip off her remaining clothing. "You and Yosuke, I swear. Your appetites are bottomless."

"Hey, I'm a growing girl!" she said, jabbing herself in the chest with a thumb. "What's his excuse? He doesn't even do martial arts!"

Once fully divested, lithe form fully on display for the other woman in the room, the junior innkeeper approached her side and slid her hands up to gently perch on her shoulders. "Mmm, yes of course. So very strong."

It was impossible for Chie to keep the blush fully out of her cheeks. "Y-yeah. I mean, strong when you're not making my knees weak."

"But Master shouldn't say things like that in front of her pet. She might think she can control her Master, and that isn't very good, is it?"

"True, yeah." Chie shook her head with a vague smile on her lips. It was funny; she was supposed to be the one in control, but most often it was Yukiko who reminded them of their play. The roles they were to serve for each other.

"Mhmmm. Alright." Even though she was clearly a little nervous, she crossed to her dresser, slid open a drawer and began to rummage behind the various undergarments arranged there. "I think we're both ready now."

Poor Chie didn't even bother to ask "ready for what?", because by the time the words began to form on her lips, her best friend was turning around, dropping to the floor and crawling toward her… with a long leather leash dangling from between her teeth.

"A-ah."

"Wrgh dng hrrg trh," Yukiko said — before Chie took the leash from her to allow her room to speak. "I m-mean to say, this is only if you feel up to it, or are interested. But we've spoken a lot about it in the past few weeks, and… and I feel like I would be alright with it."

"Okay, whoa whoa," she laughed nervously. "Listen, I… know you think nobody will see us, but c'mon, the inn gets guests all the time! And like, what if your _mom_ sees us?!"

Sitting up a little straighter, the puppy-girl reassured her, "No, no, I have a plan. Do you know the forest behind our property? It's a little bit of a walk, and I know it might seem silly to take a walk _before_ my walk, but we will probably be free from prying eyes out there. So… so do you want to?"

Any fool in Chie's position could have been able to tell that this girl wanted nothing more than to take her love into the woods so they could play. Even if the type of _play_ they wanted to do was highly unorthodox. How could she say no to those big, baleful eyes?

"Yeah, of course. So um, maybe just put this around your waist under your kimono?"

"YES!" she burst out — before calming herself and clearing her throat. "I mean, yes, that is a good plan. I'll get dressed, try to keep the leash on."

In no time at all, they were strolling through the grounds behind the Amagi Inn, seeming to the single gardener they passed as if they were merely two high school friends out for a stroll. Nothing telltale from their appearances to suggest otherwise — except the collar, and even that wasn't immediately noticeable.

"Okay," Chie whispered once they were in the treeline. "Are you really sure about this one? Cuz like, if you wanna bail on the idea, you can, right now, and I won't give you any shit. I swear."

But Yukiko was already shaking her head from side to side, even before she got halfway through speaking. "I've been looking forward to trying this for so long! Maybe it hasn't always seemed like it, but… how can we know whether or not we enjoy it if we don't try?"

That, as they say, was that.

"Okay…" Chie cleared her throat and tried not to feel too overly self-conscious. "Then take it all off so we can get started."

By far the most difficult thing to endure was watching Yukiko slowly disrobe — which she was clearly doing on purpose, adding to the anticipation. She even did that thing where she paused with the yukata halfway down her back, looking at Chie over her shoulder with a coquettish flutter of her eyelashes. _'Nosebleed City, population: me,'_ Chie thought to herself _._ Then she let it drop all the way to the forest floor, pooling amongst the grass and leaves.

Nude… except for two leather straps. One around her neck and another trailing down her back.

"Gooooood," she managed to groan. Then she shook herself and caught up the end of the lead. "Okay, so like… what now? I just take you for a walk?"

"Master, come on," she giggled. "You're not being a good Master." But when Chie frowned, Yukiko fidgeted and added, "I'm sorry. That was supposed to sound teasing, but instead… well, I really am sorry. I was trying to say that you weren't playing your role yet."

"Okay." Taking a deep breath, she cracked her neck and tried to shove away those feelings of inadequacy that had begun to brew. "So you mean I'm supposed to start being a dog owner for real? Like, until we decide we're done and wanna go back inside?"

"Yes," she sighed in obvious relief that Chie wasn't upset with her. "How about this: I'll get on hands and knees, and that's when we start? And I'll stand up if I need to stop."

"Sure yeah, that sounds pretty simple. Go for it when you're ready."

With a small nod, Yukiko stepped out of her _zori_ and into the grass, toes flexing as it tickled them. Her lips quirked into a reassuring little smile before she dropped down to all fours, perky little ass high in the air. Chie wanted to dive right into that inviting sight now — but she could wait. They had a game to play; they could have sex pretty much anytime they were alone together, as long as they were careful about noise levels. And door locks.

"Okay girl, let's go!" she commanded her in a more cheerful tone. This wasn't their first time playing in this way, or even their tenth. They just had never taken the playing outside of a locked bedroom before.

And miraculously… they went. Yukiko started walking along on her hands and knees, making little panting noises now and then. Just to maintain the illusion. Chie was both disturbed and turned on, but that happened a lot during their more adventurous encounters. The more they learned about this strange new culture they were a part of — thanks to the internet — the more intrigued they were, but Chie wasn't as good at taking it in stride as her puppy was.

 _Her puppy, Yukiko._ Still bizarre to her.

"What is it, girl? You like that one?"

" _Wan wan!"_ she yipped joyfully as she continued to mime sniffing a tree.

"Then it's all yours," she laughed easily, reaching down to scratch behind her ear. Her girlfriend hummed at the pleasant sensation, and even tried to jiggle one of her legs. With some success. Then she unclipped the leash from her collar. "Wanna play fetch, Yuka?"

More gleeful barking. So she found a stick and wiped it quickly on her sleeve — which, obviously, she wouldn't do for a real dog like Muku, but she figured she owed Yukiko at least that much.

"Go get it, girl!"

As Chie watched Yukiko, a real human being, bound off into the brush after a stick, she couldn't help feeling that her life had really gotten off track at some point. Mostly, she just wanted to be a semi-normal girl who went to school, hung out with her friends, practiced martial arts. Lately she had been toying with the idea of going into law enforcement when she grew up. Maybe it was because of all their adventures inside the TV, and saving Inaba from the menace of a vengeful god who had judged humanity as both too complacent and too volatile. She had found that not only did her kung fu training _really_ pay off, but she also had enjoyed the idea of saving people more than she expected. And it was important work.

But seeing Yukiko creeping back from the bushes with the stick between her teeth gave her pause. Surely a cop didn't do things like _this._ Or maybe they did and she was just naive. No matter how many times they discussed the fact that she obviously loved her little Yuka, it still felt foreign and weird to order her around, treat her like property.

Even if they both got off on the roles of master and pet.

They had probably been playing fetch for about twenty minutes when Yukiko dropped the stick at her feet, then reared up to rest her "forepaws" on her master's hips. Barking at her. It was as cute as it was bizarre. Privately, she kept wondering if it hurt her knees to romp around like that, but Yukiko never complained. So she crouched down to scrub all over her hair, disheveling it so badly that she would definitely need to brush it out when they got back to the inn, and her girlfriend responded with more happy yips and licking all over her face.

"AH!" she giggled, trying to push her away without any success. Yukiko could be pretty strong when she set her mind to it. "Cut it out, Yuka! Ewww!"

Of course, this wasn't the first time the kisses had turned to doggy kisses. Though it was still a little icky, it was also highly entertaining for both of them so they had slowly incorporated it into their play. Yukiko's wet pink tongue slathered all over her cheeks, lips, chin… anywhere she could reach. Until finally, Chie grabbed her by the collar and held her back.

"Okay, girl! I love you, too." Yuka barked again so she grinned and pushed their foreheads together. "Who's a happy girl? Huh? Who's my sweet, sweet, happy girl?"

The junior innkeeper's ass wiggled from side to side. They had discussed getting her ears and a tail to help complete the illusion, but decided it would be a lot harder to explain those versus the collar and leash, which could just as easily be for Muku as for Yuka. Besides, she was pretty good at wagging a non-existent tail.

Chie was distracted from her thoughts when she noticed her girlfriend was sniffing around the hem of her skirt. She saw a coy smile grace her lips just before her face shot beneath to nuzzle against her center.

"WHOA!" she gasped — and went down hard on her backside. _"Oof!"_

When Yukiko's face reappeared, she looked very concerned. Still, they had agreed she was not to break character unless Chie had made it clear that she should.

"I'm okay, girl," she reassured her pet with a shaky laugh. "Just, uh… did not expect you to go for it like that. What is it, girl? Smell something good?" Yukiko gave a very human nod before remembering herself, and letting out a bark instead. "Yeah? Um, y-you want a treat from Master for being so good?"

That prompted a _very_ strong bark, and her girlfriend gave a pronounced wiggle from stem to stern, to make sure there could be no question she really wanted that treat. So Chie leaned back against her elbows, allowing her thighs to fall open. Within a single second, her face was right back between those thighs, snuffling around and making sure her lips and nose were pushing into everything firmly.

And God help her, it was so hot. Every time they played like this, she still expected to feel disgusted regardless of how often she enjoyed it. And then was still surprised again. Maybe she really did have a learning disability of some kind.

When the nuzzling began to feel a little more pointed and purposeful, she realized that Yuka had hit an impasse. Sliding a hand down between them, she shakily tugged the crotch of her panties aside to grant her pet access. No time was wasted. After only a couple of sniffs, a warm, wet tongue was pressing into her needy flesh.

Chie _really_ hoped nobody else would suddenly decide to take a walk through the woods. Not with her screaming out in ecstasy like that, a buck naked girl's face between her legs.

After a few months of trial-and-error, Yukiko Amagi was nothing less than a professional when it came to cunnilingus. That tongue knew every little fold and crease of her lover's sex, and she was an expert at finding the ways to set her off. With almost brutal efficiency, even if the touches were sometimes so light and delicate. Chie gave herself over completely, reaching down to grip her raven locks and hold her in place as she began to buck her hips against that insanely gifted mouth.

So close… "I'm coming! Good girl, Yuka! More!"

Well, she most definitely got what she asked for. At this point the game had been suspended while Yukiko ate her out with all the skills she had learned over the past several months, almost as if someone had challenged her to do the deed as quickly and spectacularly as possible. Her tongue almost seemed to be in two places at once.

Birds took off flying from the treetops when Chie cried out from the climax rocking her entire body, back arching off the forest floor. It was beyond mind-blowing. And all thanks to a good little doggie.

"Tapout!" she finally gasped a few moments later. That was the codeword they had developed for when their eager clits had been overstimulated to the point they couldn't handle any more. Yukiko's tongue disappeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief as her entire body shook and shivered. "Nnhh… oh GOD, that was… super intense!"

A little giggle spilled from the shining lips of her love as she crouched over her. Looking at her with bottomless affection. Just a moment for that to be made known — before she bounced a little. _"WAN!"_

"Y-yeah… good girl… c'mere…" She patted her chest and Yukiko crawled up to lick all over her face. "AWWW, NOOOO! Yuka, down! C'mooooon!"

Of course, it didn't take long for her to shove her puppy off and to stand up again, though her knees were a bit wobbly. A few deep, cleansing breaths cleared her head enough to clip the leash to Yuka's collar again and set off walking around the woods with her.

"You did such a good job!" she told Yuka — and Yukiko, really. Though she knew she couldn't talk back while they were in the middle of play. "I'm really happy. And even though Narukami's gone, I mean, he'll be back… and the rest of our lives are pretty great. Kinda kicking ass and taking names lately."

"Wan, wan!" Yuka replied. Too cute.

"You like taking walks with Master?" She paused to turn and look up at her, panting with her tongue out; a doggie smile. "Awww, I'm so glad! Sweet baby!"

Yukiko put her paws up again, but this time Chie pointed at her and said, "Down. You know better than that, girl." In response, she let out a little whine and got down on all fours again, looking up at her with large, baleful eyes that would have melted glaciers. "I'm sorry, but you have to behave; I can't have you jumping up on my friends!"

Not that there was _any_ chance of that happening. Even after Naoto had figured it out, they still agreed this was only something for the two of them — nobody else.

Mostly obedient, Yuka pouted a little longer before she resumed trotting through the grass. Once or twice she winced when she crawled over a stick or a rock, but mostly she picked her way around them; they already established their rules for this interaction were no permanent injury. Chie wouldn't begrudge her that, even for the sake of "committing to the role".

They came to a stop nearly half an hour later when Yukiko began sniffing around a white pine tree excitedly. Chie couldn't blame her; evergreens smelled amazing. But as she sniffled… a memory of a previous conversation came back to her master. Were they ready? Most importantly, was Yukiko?

"Okay," she suddenly said, though she could hear the nerves in her own voice. "Mark it so we can go home."

Yukiko's look of surprise was priceless. Even while in Yuka-mode, she couldn't seem to fully suppress that deep level of alarm. But she didn't argue or stand up.

"Go on… if you, um, you need to."

There was a brief moment where it almost looked as if her girlfriend would either cry, or stand up and tell her off. Then she raised one leg…

And let out a golden stream against the bark of the pine's trunk. Chie felt her stomach disappear: she really did it. Her girlfriend, poised, refined innkeeper that she was, a true classic Japanese beauty… _was pissing like a dog on a tree._ Curiosity spiking, she took a further step to her right to get a better view, and was greeted with the sight of the thin arc of urine issuing from the top of her flawless pink pussy — two fingers on either side, to help keep the liquid from catching on the flushed lips.

Flushed from arousal, from going down on her? Or did she _like_ this? Maybe "like" was too strong a word: Yukiko found it satisfying to be degraded in very small ways, so long as they played into her role of belonging to a loving master. By now, Chie had figured out — thanks in part to her shadow — that this was due to her desire to be cared for, cherished. To belong. Perhaps having to pee like a puppy in the woods pushed the boundary of what constituted a small way, but it wasn't so overboard that she broke character. In that way, it had been a perfect thing to demand of her.

As her thoughts bumped around inside her skull, the stream petered out. Yuka shook her raised leg a little, to rid herself of lingering droplets, then lowered it back to the ground. She was trembling all over, and she winced, but still made no comment.

"Very… good, Yuka," she told her in a distant voice. "Oh wow…"

A whining noise came from her puppy-slash-girlfriend, and she made baleful eyes up at her. Not very often had she witnessed Yukiko's cheeks flushed as they were in that moment. But the moment Chie began to frown, she nuzzled her leg — reassuring her that she was not upset with her. Just that the experience had been a strange, unsettling one.

"Okay, um… well, you did your business, so I guess we, like… should head back? Y-yeah…" But she instead dropped to one knee, pulling her in for a hug. Yuka leaned into the contact gratefully but didn't embrace her back, since dogs didn't use their forelegs like that.

In a flash, she knew what she could do to make her feel better. It was so obvious! After petting over her hair and back a few times, she started sliding her hand all the way back to her rump, then angling downward.

" _Wan?"_ Yuka barked, the noise holding a very human question even if it was animal speech.

"Shhhh, shhh," she soothed her, petting along the damp folds. "Master saw you were really wet back here, girl. I-is it okay if I clean you up?"

Her girlfriend let out some very sensual dog-whines. Which apparently were possible. Chie felt her stomach turn a tiny bit at knowing this wasn't just excitement she was playing around in, because _some_ of it was pee, but probably not much. And either way… it was _Yukiko._ She didn't mind.

And clearly, neither did Yukiko. As her attentions grew more pointed and firmer, fingers parting the lips and dragging up toward her ass, then back down toward her pulsing clit, the puppy panted and moaned, hips squirming from side to side as if to shake her off. Their past experiences had at least taught them to stop taking that involuntary reaction as a sign that their partner _actually_ wanted them to stop; there had been a few touch-and-go moments thanks to miscommunication. Practice makes perfect, after all.

Kissing the top of her head, Chie whispered, "It's okay, Yuka. Master's gonna take care of you. Just let it feel good, okay? Like you made Master feel good before!"

By now, Yukiko was full-on baying — when she wasn't making more human sounds of pleasure. They were terribly hard to suppress in that state. Her hips were rolling into the contact, begging for more. Not for the first time, Chie wished she had a cock to slam into her — and they had considered buying one, many times. Probably would soon. Maybe even one that had two ends…

Once she started in on her clit, it only took another minute of blistering punishment before Yuka couldn't suppress her climax anymore. Her back arched and she let out a _howl_ as the pleasure racked her body, nearly sending her face-first into the leaves and grass. And even doing something so base, she looked as elegant as always. The magic of Yukiko.

"Gooooood girl!" Chie praised her, kissing between her shoulder blades as her other hand pet up and down her neck. "So good, you were amazing! I'm so proud of my pretty Yuka!"

There was a much more subdued little "Wan" that fell from her lips before she gave a weak wag of her hips from side to side. But at least she was clearly happy.

As they continued their way back to the spot where they left the yukata, Chie was all smiles, and kept praising Yuka or commenting on what they might do later in the day. They had fallen into the habit of Yukiko using happy barks and whines to show her approval or disapproval of their various plans; that way she still got to put in her two yen without fully breaking character. Maybe it was cheating, but who cared?

"God, I could use some lemon soda," Chie sighed as the clothes came into view. "Oh — there we go. Did you have fun out here today, Yuka?"

"WAN!" she barked with a huge, panting grin, bouncing a little. Then she winced. "Nnn…"

"Yuka?" But she shook her head, so Chie sighed and pulled her closer to the clothes. "Mkay, let's get outta here; we still have time to play some Famidrive. Bet I can whoop you in Power Intuition!"

But as Yukiko drew _almost_ right up to the clothes, which would be the official end of their play, Chie suddenly stopped and held the leash taut. There was a quiet gag before her girlfriend turned around to look up at her curiously.

"Wait… um… I was gonna do this later, but I think… I wanna do it now. While you're still on your walk, Yuka." Meaning during play. She actually had been going to wait for her birthday, but that was almost a year away — and she hated that she hadn't thought of it before the last one. Oh well, better late than never.

"Wan?" Yuka asked in concern.

"Huh? O-oh, right! I got you a little something." Kneeling down, she produced it from her jacket pocket and held it out. "Hope you like it, girl."

It was a dog tag. Not just any tag, but a bamboo tag with an elegant burned-in design of flames on one side. When Chie's nervously twitching fingers turned it around, the kanji "優花" were emblazoned on the back: Yuka. Gentle flower.

There was a very real gasp from her girlfriend before she squealed, "CHIE!" and threw her arms around her, bouncing with happiness. Her owner just began to laugh when she suddenly drew back and cleared her throat. _"W-wan!"_

"It's cool," she laughed as she reached for her collar. "We were almost done, anyway, right? Hmm…" Then she delicately began to attach the tag to her pet. The big grin and the way she could barely keep still was too adorable — and doglike, which continuously surprised her. Even if Yukiko was a beautiful debutante in so many ways, she was also the world's cutest puppy. "There!"

And no sooner had she finished than she was pounced upon, licked all over her face amid a flurry of giggles. After a minute or two, she managed to push the girl away and stood up.

"Okay, you can stand up too now."

"Ohhhh, Chie, it's gorgeous!" Yukiko gushed as she finally rose to her feet, catching up the yukata along the way. "Where did you get it? How long have you been hanging onto this?!"

"Few days," she told her shyly, watching her slip her _zori_ back on. So cute the way her little toes wriggled to slip the thong between them. "J-just… you got me that necklace for White Day, and I don't know why, I didn't even think about-"

"Stop that," she cut her off. "We already discussed this, I told you I wasn't even sure if I should get you something. Since we aren't boyfriend-girlfriend, we are two girls; the rules aren't the same. So you didn't disappoint me!"

Shrugging as she helped her slide the light kimono around her body, she muttered, "Y-yeah, but you still deserved a gift. And we've been going out for like a whole year, so…"

"Almost a year," she whispered back with a twinkle in her eyes. One that made her suspicious.

"Um… you're not planning some kinda crazy thing next month, are you? Like, because it's our anniversary?"

Trying to sound innocent, she pressed a hand into her clothed chest — now that she had finished tying her yukata, naturally. "Why, Chie-chan! Would I do that?"

"Yep. Okay, okay… I guess I do wanna celebrate it, but don't go wacko! Just like, find us something fun. Maybe we can have a nice din-"

"Don't you worry about a thing," she reassured her lover as she linked their arms together. "Just don't be too busy that day and everything will come up roses. Okay?"

Letting out a loud "UGHHHHH", Chie tried to be grumpy as they headed for the edge of the woods, and toward the Amagi Inn beyond. But she still ended up leaning over to whisper, "Fine, I'm excited. Just don't tell anybody."

"Because our relationship is anyone's business as it is," she giggled. "Hmm… are you sure this is the right way?"

As Chie Satonaka stared at the pretty little innkeeper, the shafts of light filtering through the trees, her heart stopped for a moment as time froze. Because her priestess was there, and warm, and real, and so sweet and beautiful. Because they were there _together._

"Everything's right, Yukiko," she whispered with a huge, goofy grin. "Everything."

* * *

_~ THE END ~_


End file.
